Non Emergency Patient Transport Service

NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) are publishing on behalf of NHS Lancashire & South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), NHS Greater Manchester ICB, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB and NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB who have awarded contracts for the provision of Non-Emergency Patient Transport Services (NEPTS) to cover Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cumbria delivering:

• Planned Patient Transport - for routine outpatient appointments
• Unplanned Patient Transport - for discharges / short notice bookings, and
• Enhanced Priority Service Transport - for time critical transport for patients attending for haemodialysis or oncology treatments.

This contract award notice is for the direct award of contracts with the existing provider, North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) for a period of 12 months from 1st April 2023 to the 31st March 2024.

The current NEPTS contracts were originally procured by competitive tender. There was then a delay in the recommissioning of these services due to the COVID-19 pandemic however work is now underway to develop a North West strategic approach to patient transport being commissioned by the newly formed ICBs that will meet both local and national requirements. To allow the timescales to complete this work and reprocure the service an extension of 12 months is required with the existing provider.

A review of the North West specifications is required to ensure it meets the evolving needs of the ICBs. In addition the National Review of NEPTS produced its final report on patient eligibility criteria in May 2022. This has broadened the criteria under which patients are able to access NHS funded transport and has required additional work on the specifications. The National Review has produced, and continues to produce, additional guidance to be adopted which will impact the North West specifications.

The rationale for the 12 month extension with the existing provider is that it will maintain the continuity of service until such time as a new service can be commissioned that will meet local requirements and incorporate any new national requirements. The extension is only a temporary arrangement to allow the appropriate timescales to re-procure the service (which have previously been delayed due to the pandemic and therefore events that were unforeseeable to the commissioners).

The commissioners intend to engage with the provider market to support the development of the new North West specifications and a provider engagement event will be advertised via a PIN.