Transport to hospital appt for elderly patient

[Gherkingreen]

MIL, 80, has been given an essential hospital appt more than 30 miles from her home this week. She's been unwell for 2 years and isn't confident to drive that far at the moment.
Letter arrived late last week & none of the volunteer transport services can accommodate her as too short notice.
No family nearby and friends unavailable (we live 300+ miles away.)
We're looking at booking a private taxi, quotes around £150 return. Does anyone know if she may be able to claim some of the cost back?

You could try Hospital Transport - arrange through GP or hospital depending on who made the appointment. Worth a try?

Is she on a low income? If she is, there is usually a form at the hospital you fill in and she can either get the money from the cash office or they'll send her a cheque.

Can she ask the hospital to organise hospital transfer for her?

I'd contact patient transport check through your clinic again or the hospital

My Dad is 89 and housebound. He uses hospital transport for all is trips to hospital. I called his GP and they gave me the number. One of his trips was over 30 miles away. I now just call a week or so before his appointment and they book him in.

Sorry just re-read your post. Call hospital transport again and ask their advice, they may be able to reschedule her appointment for when they do have transport available within a few days.

I had a time when unable to drive myself to hospital after surgery, and found local Red Cross transport, run by volunteers using their own cars, and you paid a sum per mile. They waited at the hospital then took me home. Maybe there is such a scheme near you?

Thanks everyone for your super helpful suggestions and advice.
The local transport options are all booked up unfortunately as the appt was scheduled at short notice, but will hopefully work in future.
It feels awful not to be able to help her, and the only available option would leave her £150 out of pocket. Will explore claiming £ back, have found a Gov website that suggests people on some benefits can seek financial support for hospital appt transport costs.

But have you called the hospital transport service and not just the local volunteer ones? Plenty of patients travel >30 miles to my hospital by transport and this can be booked the day beforehand.

The ambulance trust should run a patient transport service that the hospital or GP can book. The can take on the day bookings, if necessary. There is acceptance criteria but an 80 year old with healthcare needs might well meet the criteria.

@Luncheonmeatsandwich we have spoken to the hospital, who said they don't offer transport unless it's classes as an emergency. I've also called the patient experience team who said the same.
@CaronPoivre I guess we'd access this through the hospital? It's impossible to know how to access services, we think we're asking the right people the right questions but getting nowhere.

Ring medical Secretary for whichever speciality she is seeing. They’ll know how to access PTS or phone the local ambulance trust directly and ask how PTS is accessed. Just don’t use 999 number ! Their website will have the switchboard number. Then ask for PTS.

I don't think that would be true. All areas have to offer non emergency patient transport services as far as I'm aware. Can you give us an approximate area (i.e. county, specifically the county she lives in rather than the county the hospital is in). I am happy to do some digging into what's available/next steps.

The hospital is not telling the whole story. The transport is very rarely provided by the hospital. It is not an emergency service but for people attending appointments, having dialysis, having radiotherapy or chemotherapy, going to pulmonary rehabilitation or having a chest X-ray. It’s for people who need transport and cannot get themselves there. All the ambulance trusts provide a service in England. They are busy, it’s not for people who can’t be bothered to get a bus but it is available to those who need it and meet the criteria. The details about booking are on some websites under patient transport services.
The criteria for our region is;
Your medical condition is such that you require the skills and support of NEPTS staff during or after your journey, and/or it would be detrimental to your condition or recovery to travel by other means. Or:
Your medical condition affects your mobility to such an extent that you would be unable to access healthcare and/or it would be detrimental to your condition or recovery to travel by other means.

In this case her illness means she lacks the confidence to access the appointment by public transport and needs support and encouragement to attend.

That taxi fare is a bit steep! Have you tried phoning different taxi companies? I find that firms near me ask for different amount, I recently paid £18 to get home from a garage after dropping my car off but only £12 to go and collect it. Different firms!

My mother in law aged 90 was told they can't supply transport she's in Essex

Have you spoken to her GP surgery? They should be able to arrange transport or put you in touch with someone who can.

Our hospital will only provide transport if the person is unable to use ordinary transport eg. needs an ambulance or is immobile.

Otherwise can you reschedule for a time she can get volunteer transport? Could a friend or neighbour take her? It's worth putting a bit of thought into this now if there's no family near as from experience these appointments get more frequent as they get older!

It's usually a phonecall to the local ambulance trust for this and, it's usually reserved for patients who have mobility issues / are housebound.
There's usually a bit of waiting around for the ambulance transfer service, before and after the appointment, so bear that in mind.

I assume MIL has asked if the appointment could be at their local hospital- due the transport issues? Sometimes the same clinic is run at the local hospital - but the waiting time might be longer as held less often.

FIL aged 81 has had this for the past 2+yrs. His appointments are 80miles away, in a different county. He pays a friendly neighbour (also a retired friend) to drive him there and back. The whole day, with treatment, is a 7hr round trip [! Does MIL have any local friends who might do this if paid?

The red cross have volunteers who might be available to help.

Put a message in her local FB group and say you're looking for a driver who will do the trip for the cost of fuel plus a gift on top. There could well be some great people looking for a bit of extra cash.

Another option is to contact her local church and ask if anyone can help.

This is what happens where I live. There always seems to be plenty of people to help.

Has your Mum got any friends she could ask?

Thanks all, really appreciate your time and your suggestions. @Augend23 so kind to offer to help find a solution, that'd be amazing! We just keep reaching dead ends.
MIL is in rural N Cornwall, public transport is scarce and wouldn't help her get to/from home easily.
Her mobility is compromised, she's in a lot of pain, the appt is for a possible hip replacement and she has a range of other health issues. She's been admitted to hospital 12 times in 18 months with severe infections so she's really not in the best of health.
We've tried FB, and she doesn't have any friends who can help this time.
I'm going to call the hospital (Treliske) again today. She'd be v happy to pay some towards travel but as pensioner on benefits, it has to be affordable.
The appt letter came through last Fri for the appt this Thurs which meant all local services recommended by the hospital/GP were booked up.
Thank again all.

So I think your options are

1. Check if she is eligible for transport funding, but be aware that doesn't usually cover the cost of a taxi. They would need to agree this in advance and the organisation who would need to agree this would be NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly. Their phone number is 01726 627800, they don't have a PALS department and the reclaim of transport costs isn't covered on their website so I am wary about how helpful they will be.

1. If she has a lot of hip pain, I would be arguing she needs to be transported by the "non emergency patient transport service", on the grounds she has a medical condition which otherwise means she would be unable to attend her appointment. It may be the case that you want to try this first, and if they conclude she isn't eligible work on the reclaim thing. The information for that is here: cios.icb.nhs.uk/health/patient-transport/guide/

I know NHS organisations can be impenetrable but it will be the ICB (linked and phone number above) who has the power to resolve this.

@Augend23 thanks so much, I'm making some calls this morning based on the info you provided and will let you know what I hear back!
Really grateful, thanks again. Have a great day

@Gherkingreen I know you absolutely won't want to cancel the appointment but if you cannot get transport and have to change it then make sure she is not put to the bottom of the queue.

They have given her what we in my area would consider a "short notice" appointment as it's less than 2 weeks notice. She should be able to decline this and request another one in the near future at a more suitable time. You may need to be firm about this!