Questions asked as non-emergency patient transport for Banbury patients is privatised

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Questions have been asked of NHS bosses over plans to privatise patient transport for Banburyshire and county patients.

Keep Our NHS Public Oxfordshire (KONPOx) attended a meeting of the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB) Integrated Care Board (ICB) to state its opposition to the privatisation, which it believes undermines the National Health Service.

The non-emergency patient transport has been provided by South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) which runs emergency 999 ambulances.

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In a written question, to be answered on the ICB’s website, Bill MacKeith said: “Why has NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board appointed EMED Group to provide NHS non-emergency patient transport services?”

South Central Ambulance Service has lost the contract for non-emergency patient transportSouth Central Ambulance Service has lost the contract for non-emergency patient transport
South Central Ambulance Service has lost the contract for non-emergency patient transport

Mr MacKeith asked whether SCAS had been invited to tender for the work and why it was not chosen as the preferred provider. He also asked why the ‘intent to tender’ was not publicised earlier and what public consultation had taken place. He demanded to know which elected representatives in local government had been informed.

“What has been or will be the impact on NHS staff employed in the patient transport service, in terms of transfers, redundancies and terms of redundancy?” he asked.

Mr MacKeith asked to be told the duration of the contract and what monitoring would be undertaken on delivery of the new contract. He also asked to be told what provisions there are for bringing the service back in-house if EMED’s performance is not satisfactory.

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In response to questions from the Banbury Guardian before this week’s meeting, the ICB said: "NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board has appointed EMED Group to provide NHS non-emergency patient transport services after a thorough and competitive procurement process, with the new enhanced service starting on April 1, 2025. "EMED is working with the current provider to ensure a smooth transition and the service will remain free to all eligible patients. More information will be published over the coming months.”

The ICB did not answer other questions asked, including whether there had been public consultation, whether the area covered by EMED would be larger, how the service would work to provide a profit for the company, what benefits there might be and why the service was being removed from public ownership.

The newsdesk also asked why information about the tender process had not been publicised.

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