Review of Non-Emergency NHS Transport Services

Our Customer

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of health and care services to support the more than 500,000 people living in Northumberland and North Tyneside.

What we were asked

We were asked to review the non-emergency transport operations of an NHS Trust, in particular, the contract arrangements between the Trust and a private sector ambulance operator and make recommendations for commissioning non-emergency patient journeys after the expiry of the current contract.

What we did

We examined the original tender process and the contract award documentation; analysed the operational journey data as reported by the contract holder; scrutinised day to day operations, control processes and reporting arrangements and we interviewed key stakeholders within the Trust and the contract holder.

Outcomes

By reference to CQC reports and patient survey data, we were able to confirm the contractor’s robust approach to quality and safety issues and that their practices, systems and processes would maintain high operational and governance standards. A detailed analysis of journey data identified areas where some of the original contract specification had not been reflected in the operation of the contract.

As a result of our observations and analysis we were able to make a series of recommendations for changes to the service specifications to enable improved contract management and achieve better value for money.

We were subsequently asked to prepare recommendations and an outline specification for the update of the contract.

Linked Pages

Procurement & Commissioning
Non-emergency Health Transport
Total Transport