Care home transfer transport

[FlatWhiteExtraHot]

I’m in a position where I need to move my mum from a care home in the north east of England to one in the South West. She has some issues that mean bringing her by car ourselves wouldn’t be suitable.

Does anyone have any idea or recommendations of the best way to do this? I’ve googled and there’s surprisingly little info out there.

Thank you.

You can hire a wheelchair taxi if she has a wheelchair and she can remain in it for the duration of the journey. If she would not be able to tolerate that you can hire a private ambulance. Just do an internet search for private ambulance in your area.

If you google "Private Ambulance" you will find unmarked hearses! A DF once called the number she saw locally to ask for transport for her DM. She had a hospital appointment but couldn't get into a car. The company she called were very keen to help until they realised there was no body, just a severely disabled lady!

I just googled "transport between nursing homes" and there are several options.

That's a long journey. It may be worth contacting adult social services in your area and asking their advice. My dad had to transfer from an NHS funded temporary placement in a care home to a permanent placement and the social worker gave me details of the private ambulance service for us to use. I then had to contact them, arrange and pay. This was only a local journey though and it may depend on your mum's particular situation eg being frail and bed bound is different to someone with dementia who is very unsettled.

Thank you for this. I’ve googled and found a few companies, but I hadn’t thought about calling social services. Mum is self funding so obviously we’re happy to pay, but SS might have some more ideas.

We used a private ambulance twice, to move my DM & DF into their respective care homes at separate times. My DM was only a 10 mile drive while my DF was over 200 miles. Both companies were found with an online search and worked with no problems. Parents were also self funding

It's worth asking St John's ambulance too, here they seem to contract to the main ambulance service too but they may be able to help privately hired for transport

depends what her needs are - physical, mental, ongoing medical (oxygen or a drip) or combination.

private ambulance is one option.

another could be paying for executive transport (like a taxi but tend to be more comfortable than a cab for long distances) the sort of companies that will do airport transfers or drive businessmen city to city + paying for a nurse or a health care assistant to accompany her from a private nursing company like Pulse or Thornbury.