EMED Group To Provide Non-Emergency Transport Services In Surrey Heartlands

These contracts are for a term of five years, and both have an option to extend once for up to a further five years. This marks the conclusion of a procurement process that was initiated in April 2023 with the new service launching on the 1^st of April 2024.

This new, non-emergency patient transport service is tailored to eligible individuals with higher level mobility requirements, who need help with transport to get to their hospital appointments.

Primarily serving outpatient appointments, admissions, day case attendances and renal dialysis treatments across various care settings, EMED anticipates over 140,000 patient journeys annually.

Karen McDowell, Chief Executive, NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB said, “I’m delighted this open procurement procedure has resulted in a NEPTS ICS partner for the benefit of our citizens. Healthcare providers in Surrey recognise the valuable role NEPTS fulfils in moving people to the right place at the right time without delay, and how this helps enable them to provide optimum care.”

“The NEPT service is relied upon by very many people who cannot access healthcare without it. I’m excited to see the customer facing service initiatives in the new specification become a reality.”

Craig Smith, Group CEO of EMED Group, stated, “We are delighted to be working with Surrey Heartlands ICB to provide the vital Non-Emergency Patient Transport Services to those in the community who need our support. Patient transport plays a vital role in ensuring timely and efficient healthcare access, and our team is passionate about delivering the very best experience to all patients. Patients will benefit from several innovations as part of this contract such as greater support in care settings and use of the latest technology that will enhance the booking and journey experience throughout the day. We look forward to working in partnership with Surrey Heartlands and wider stakeholders to make a positive impact on the wellbeing of the community.”

The non-emergency patient transport service goes live on 1 April 2024 and will be delivered by EMED Patient Care from their main bases near Redhill, Addlestone and Guildford engaging over 110 crew members and 65 ambulances.

Notes to editors:

1. Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership – Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership is a group of health and care organisations working together – with staff, patients, their carers, families and members of the public – to transform local services and support people to live healthier lives. Together we are known as an ‘Integrated Care System’ – partnerships where health organisations, the local authorities and others take a collective responsibility for improving the health of the local population, managing resources (including money) and making sure services are high quality.
2. EMED Patient Care (part of the EMED Group) – EMED Group is a trusted partner to the NHS and Local Authorities across 72 contracts. As a group, EMED delivers 1.5 million patient journeys per annum and has 2,500 Healthcare professional frontline staff. They run a fleet of over 1,100 specialist vehicles across 52 operational depots. EMED are CQC registered with 6 ‘Good’ rated inspections in 22/23
3. Picture captions, as labelled
4. Press contacts – For EMED Group media enquiries, please contact greg.fox@emedgroup.co.uk. For NHS Surrey Heartlands media enquiries, please contact syheartlandsicb.media@nhs.net