Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is the criteria for disabled people to access transport from the Ambulance Service for hospital appointments.

Non-Emergency Patient Transport Schemes (NEPTS) often provide funded transport where a medical condition means that a patient would struggle to safely attend their treatment independently. NEPTS can be provided by ambulance trusts or other providers depending on local arrangements.

In 2019, NHS England set out updated eligibility criteria, which includes disability criteria, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/B1244-nepts-eligibility-criteria.pdf

We want disabled people’s access to, and experience of, healthcare services to be equitable, effective and responsive to their needs.

NEPTS in England is an operational matter for the National Health Service and how the NEPTS guidance is implemented at a local level is determined by integrated care boards and their partners, including local ambulance trusts.