MP Expresses Support To HART’s Bid For NHS Patient Transport Role

MP Expresses Support To HART's Bid For NHS Patient Transport Role
MP Expresses Support To HART’s Bid For NHS Patient Transport Role

Graham Stuart joined East Riding Councillor Jane Evison and a group of constituents as he rode on the Holderness Area Rural Transport (HART) bus to celebrate its achievements and promote its bid to become a registered NHS non-emergency patient transport provider in 2017.

Founded in 2003 to tackle transport needs in Holderness, HART has gone from strength to strength and now has nine vehicles covering the coast from Bempton to Spurn including the market towns of Driffield, Hedon, and Hornsea.

In the last year the service conducted almost 58,000 passenger journeys, helping people with journeys ranging from shopping to hospital visits.

HART is now bidding to become an NHS registered non-emergency Patient Transport Service (PTS) provider. HART’s Medibus service is one of several community transport groups that already fulfils a patient transport role but it currently receives no support from the NHS for doing so.

Becoming an NHS funded PTS would enable HART to expand its services, operate more efficiently and provide an income which could sustain them. HART’s services are currently only made possible by the dedicated team of 36 volunteers who help out with everything from driving the buses and cars to administration.

Following his trip, Graham said;

“HART provides an invaluable service to people in Holderness and it was great to hear first-hand from constituents on board how much they rely on it. I thoroughly support HART’s application to become an NHS registered Patient Transport Provider – they have a proven track record in this area and trained paramedics should be freed up to respond to the most serious incidents.

“I’ve written to Yorkshire Ambulance Service today to ask for details of how they can support HART’s bid. With ambulance response times in Holderness well below target, we shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to make sensible changes to make the most of resources.”

Councillor Jane Evison, who co-founded the HART service, said;

“We are working hard in the hope that HART will become a registered NHS Patient Transport Provider in 2017. This would hopefully minimise any duplication of services currently requested of HART and the NHS, as well as alleviating pressure on Ambulance Services.

“The charity exists due to the tremendous effort of volunteers and we welcome and value their contribution. If you would like to get involved we would love to hear from you via our facebook page or website.”



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