Aibu to be annoyed ..hospital refuses transport?

[onestepat]

My gran is nearly 99.
She broke her hip 3 weeks ago and is currently in a rehabilitation unit 20 mins away from the hospital.
She was transferred from hospital to the unit.
Last week a letter came in the post for a follow up appointment at the hospital yesterday.
I called the unit and they said they would get her transport to the hospital (I'm assuming someone would go with her as she still can't walk and has dementia )
Anyway today I received a call from the hospital asking why she didn't turn up.
I called the unit and they said the hospital refused to transport her there and they didn't think it was appropriate to take her via taxi.
I called the hospital who said they should have taken her in a taxi.
I asked why transport was refused and they said they wouldn't transport her as they are only transporting for cancer treatment.
Aibu to think this is a bit ridiculous seen as tho they transported her to the unit via ambulance and I'm unable to take her.

I think I'd be more annoyed at the rehab unit for saying they'd sort transport then not doing it. Why was it inappropriate to go in a taxi? For financial reasons or mobility problems?

@Lovestonap I think it must be mobility problems.
I don't know if she can bend herself to get into a taxi given her hip op.
She's only finally started to weight bare.

If she’s in a wheelchair then she could be accompanied in a taxi. My guess is the unit probably didn’t want to do that because of cost. Call them again and find out what’s going on.

I don’t think the hospital are at blame. The rehabilitation init should have called you back and let you know what was going on. You could then have had the discussion with them about the taxi etc, before rather than after she had missed the appointment. You could have rang the hospital and found out how important the appointment was.

No she doesn't have a wheelchair (I don't think )
They've had her up with a frame.
Does anyone know if you can borrow a wheelchair ?
For when shes coming home.

Yeah I'm annoyed with the unit I think more so.
For lack of communication really.
I would have paid for the taxi.
I don't think I would have been allowed to take her due to covid.

It's not the hospitals responsibility to transport people in for their outpatients appointment. The rehab unit should have arranged appropriate transport. It's them you should take this up with.

The Red Cross offer Wheelchairs for hire

www.redcross.org.uk/get-help/borrow-a-wheelchair##

The rehab unit sound a bit useless. They must surely have come across this issue before. The least they could have done if they decided it "wasn't appropriate" to send her in a taxi was let you know that, and certainly let the hospital know she wouldn't be turning up for the appointment!

Yes you can easily get wheelchair taxis in most areas (they come with ramps and the wheelchair gets wheeled up into the back and strapped in securely), you just back to book in advance usually. And if the rehab unit doesn't have a spare chair or two floating around (they usually do!) then you can hire one (might not be a bad idea to look into this for after COVID anyway so she can get out and about a bit.

Agree the unit sounds a bit rubbish here, they should at least have let you know there was a problem!

^have to book in advance, not back

@IslaMann I thought it would be because she is still in the nhs unit (I assumed it would be the same )

@MrsWednesdayteatime thankyou for that,that's really helpful

Hospitals don't provide transport unless they have to . It's usually arranged through the Gp.

The unit should have phoned you if they couldnt arrange transport. Shd has now missed the appointment because of their inefficiency. Really annoying.

Hopefully she will be home for her next appointment and I can hire a wheelchair.
Unfortunately there's no more apts now till June

You can hire a wheelchair from the Red Cross, you may be able to keep it for an extended period of time. I think it's about £15 a week.

As well as taxis, it is worth checking if your area has a voluntary travel organisation that can provide wheelchair transport, these are often cost-subsided. I use them to book transport for my service users to travel to and from respite stays, for example. See if your local authority has a single point of access type service that offer advice and signposting, as they will be able to supply you with details of organisations that can offer transport.