St George’s non-emergency patient transport service moves to Epsom and St Helier
In August we announced that St George’s and Epsom and St Helier Trusts have formed a group model in order to provide more joined-up and consistent care for local patients.
As part of this, non-emergency transport services for St George’s patients will move away from private provider HATS and will instead be run by Epsom and St Helier for the hospital group. This is a great example of closer collaboration, and will benefit the people we care for.
The transfer will cover inpatient and outpatient transport for our Tooting and Roehampton sites, as well as renal, and our community sites – as part of a collaborative procurement project between the two Trusts.
The move is expected to take place from spring next year, as the current contract with HATS comes to an end after a successful five years. There will be no impact to patient care, and all 150 HATS staff will have the opportunity to transfer over to the NHS as part of Epsom and St Helier’s patient transport service under TUPE legislation (Transfer of Undertakings for the Protection of Employment).
By working jointly with our colleagues at Epsom and St Helier, St George’s expects to be able to reduce the amount of journeys across south west London, resulting in a more sustainable service that helps meet NHS carbon reduction targets and assists with cost and quality improvement projects.
As we bring non-emergency patient transport services together across the two Trusts, Epsom and St Helier will be preparing to roll out a new fleet of ambulances, meaning our patients will travel in the most up to date and modern vehicles. Patients will also benefit from Epsom and St Helier’s 3.5 years’ experience of running a well-regarded patient transport service in house.
HATS staff will continue to provide the service for St George’s patients for the next six months until the end of their contract, and will be part of a steering group to support the transition to Epsom and St Helier.
St George’s would like to thank HATS and its staff for their dedication and hard work in providing an excellent service for our patients.
