Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will establish an urgent investigation into (a) the application of the eligibility criteria for accessing and (b) other aspects of the operation of patient transport services in the south-west.

The delivery of effective Patient Transport Services (PTS) and the application of eligibility criteria in line with the national guidance are matters for local National Health Service clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). The existing national guidance makes clear that eligibility for PTS is based on medical need, and that patients should reach appointments in a reasonable time, in reasonable comfort, and without detriment to their medical condition. CCGs must ensure that services are provided to this specification.

To ensure the central guidance is fit for purpose for the needs of patients in future, by the end of 2018 NHS England and NHS Improvement will jointly undertake a scoping exercise which will inform the approach to refreshing the guidance.