Surrey Non-Emergency Patient Transport Staff Information

EMED Patient Care will be providing non-emergency patient transport (NEPTS), renal patient transport services and HDU transport services within Surrey Heartlands including sites across Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (ASPH), Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (SASH), Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust (RSCH) and Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust (ESTH) from 1^st April 2024.

A secure mental health transport service is also available for Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SABP) provided by EMED Safe Care.

EMED Patient Care is taking over the current contract from South Central Ambulance Services. The new contract is due to run from 1^st April 2024 to 31^st May 2029 with an option to extend up to five years.

The commissioning organisation for this service is Surrey Heartlands (SH). Please note, EMED Patient Care is the sole provider of patient transport services, no additional private ambulance provision should be used.

EMED Patient Care will provide the patient transport service. EMED Patient Care is a division of EMED Group, one of the UK’s leading health and social care transport providers. As a trusted partner to the NHS and Local Authorities across over 70 contracts, EMED Group delivers over 1.5 million patient journeys every year.

EMED Group has over 2,800 colleagues across the country and deploys a fleet of over 1,100 specialised vehicles. It also has a dedicated national healthcare call centre.

The service is delivered from the following base locations:

Addlestone
New Haw Day Centre,
Amis Avenue,
Addlestone, KT15 3ET

Guildford
Unit C, Burnt Common Distribution Centre,
London Road,
Guildford, GU23 7LN

Redhill
Terminal Building,
Redhill Aerodrome,
Kings Mill Lane, Redhill,
Surrey, RH1 5YP

The non-emergency patient transport service operation hours are from 06:00 to 23:59, Monday to Saturday, and 06:00 and 23:00 on Sunday and bank holidays; across 365 days per year, 366 on a leap year.

The renal dialysis transport service operates from 05:00 to 02:00, Monday to Sunday.

Patients can access this service by booking through the EMED Patient Care Transport Booking Office freephone on 0300 131 2400. Bookings can be made via their healthcare professional, carer, escort, or by the patient themselves. Patients can also book via the Patient Zone if it is not their first journey. Patients can find more information on their dedicated information page at www.emedgroup.co.uk/surrey/.

The new NEPT service provided by EMED, which is going live on the 1^st of October 2024 covers Cambridge and Peterborough ICB patients only. The arrangements for patients registered with a GP outside of Cambridge, Peterborough and Royston have not changed, and bookings should continue to be made via the existing booking process of the respective providers.

The new NEPT service provided by EMED, which is going live on the 1st of April 2024 covers Surrey Heartlands ICB patients only. The arrangements for patients registered with a GP outside of Surrey Heartlands have not changed, and bookings should continue to be made via the existing booking process of the respective providers.

Patients who are registered with a GP in Surrey, providing they meet the eligibility criteria as outlined by NHS England. If a patient holds a patient passport, they are also automatically eligible for NEPTS

In short, a patient may be eligible for non-emergency patient transport if:

• They have a medical need for transport.
• They have a cognitive or sensory impairment requiring the oversight of a member of specialist or non-specialist patient transport staff or a suitably trained driver.
• They have a significant mobility need that means they are unable to make their own way with relatives/friends and/or escorts/carers, whether by private transport, public transport or a taxi.
• They are travelling to or returning from in-centre haemodialysis, in which case specialist transport, non-specialist transport or upfront/reimbursement costs for private travel will be made available.
• A safeguarding concern has been raised by any relevant professional involved in a patient’s life, in relation to the patient travelling independently.
• They have wider mobility or medical needs that have resulted in treatment or discharge being missed or severely delayed.

For more information about patient eligibility, please review the guidelines provided by NHS England. The EMED Patient Care Transport Booking Office will apply any relevant eligibility criteria when taking bookings.

If you would like more information about this service, you can call the EMED Patient Care Transport booking office freephone or use the contact form at the bottom of this page to get in touch.