Patient transport under fire over operating hours
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THE patient transport service has been blasted for not operating after 3pm, resulting in a far north multiple sclerosis sufferer being forced to make his own way to hospital to receive treatment.
Allan McEwan (57) was required to attend an appointment at Caithness General Hospital in Wick on Monday at 4pm.
But when his wife Jan (56) tried to book transport to travel to just over a mile from their home at Newtonhill, she was told it was not available as the service shuts down at 3pm.
As a result, Mrs McEwan was forced to ask a friend to take her husband to hospital.
She is unhappy with the response and plans to complain to the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS), saying it is unfair patients who have appointments later in the day are denied access to the transport service.
She said: "We only received the news from the consultant about my husband’s appointment on Thursday.
"I contacted the service to book transport but for the first time I was told that they do not operate past 3pm.
"I was told that the consultant should have taken our situation into account and should have organised an earlier appointment."
"The service they are offering is inflexible and offers rotten customer service. I don’t know how my husband is going to make his appointment without the help of a friend."
The patient transport service is available to patients with a medical need or with limited mobility to transport them from their home or back from pre-arranged hospital appointments or for their admission and discharge to hospital.
Last year it was used by more than 1.3 million patients in the UK.
A spokesman for the SAS confirmed the service had not been able to pick up Mr McEwan as a result of its operating times.
However, he added it was able to operate after hours in the case of an emergency.
"Although the Patient Transport Service operates until 5pm, it cannot take bookings for appointments after 3pm," he said.
"This is to allow for patients to be picked up and taken home on time.
"If a patient has an urgent appointment after 3pm, then special arrangements can be made.
"If the appointment is routine, then the opportunity is offered to re-arrange it before 3pm on another day."
