London hospital trusts have been forced to bring patient transport services in house or re-tender them as incumbent firms exit the market.
Barts Health Trust in east London has confirmed it is bringing its patient transport contract in house after provider ERS stopped providing the service. ERS is owned by American firm SRCL and also ran services across the east of England and Yorkshire.
The company had been running the service since July 2014. In its most recent board papers, the trust said its in house provision, which began in October, was cheaper.
London North West Healthcare Trust, which serves a population of more than 700,000 people from three hospital sites in outer London, was hit by the collapse of Essex based firm Private Ambulance Service last month.
The company employed more than 300 staff and also served Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire as well as the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Foundation Trust.
Private Ambulance Service was providing non-emergency patient transport to LNWH since February 2016, having won a five year contract from a framework set up by the London Procurement Partnership….read more
