More Staff Vital To Cut Taxi Bill
29th August 2008
The amount being spent on taxis for patients by the North West Ambulance Service is nothing short of astonishing. More than £300,000 has been sucked from the budget to pay for taxis for patients, as there are not enough drivers for the service’s own vehicles.
NWAS spent £761,766 in Cheshire and Merseyside on alternative transport provision – £316,782 of which was on taxis.
These are huge amounts of money; for a life-saving service that has to make every penny count – the idea that hundreds of thousands of pounds can be lost this way is an appalling one.
The Daily Post revealed in July how the service had overspent £35,000 on taxis in April alone. The latest figures, obtained after requests were submitted by this newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act, paint an even more disturbing picture.
There is a budget to provide alternative transport for non-emergency patients when ambulances or drivers are unavailable, but it is £450,000 per year – hardly adequate in the current circumstances.
The problems, according to the ambulance service, have been caused by staff vacancies; there are more than 14 unfilled positions at present, some of whom would normally drive ambulances and provide transport services.
Nevertheless, as the Ambulance Service Union points out, this is a pretty thin reason for running up such vast bills on alternative transport. The union says back-filling vacancies created by promotions should be a key task for the service; yet such simple common sense seems yet to prevail here.
The solution, according to the NWAS, is a recruiting push and the piloting of a sat nav system aimed at improving efficiency. For the sake of those non-emergency patients who might spend hours waiting for ambulance transport, for the sake of those who have to be ferried long distances by taxi, and – most of all – for the sake of the ambulance service itself, we should all fervently hope that these measures will be enough.
Source; Liverpool Daily Post
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Exposed: True Cost Of Ambulance Taxi Fiasco
29th August 2008
Merseyside's ambulance service has spent more than £300,000 on taxis for patients in the last 12 months because of a chronic lack of drivers for its own vehicles and high demand.
In total the North West Ambulance Service spent £761,766 in Merseyside and Cheshire on alternative transport arrangements for patients, an overspend of more than £315,000.
Today, the full cost of the taxi fiasco to the public can be revealed after the Daily Post obtained the information from the ambulance service using Freedom of Information legislation.
In July we first revealed how the service had overspent by £35,000 on taxis in April alone.
The money was used within its Public Transport Service (PTS), which is meant to transport non-emergency patients to and from our hospitals.
There are currently more than 14 staff vacancies within the ambulance service, and the Trust is in the course of trying to recruit 18 people to fill the gap.
The service cites unfilled vacancies, delays in treatment and the high amount of people needing the service as reasons for high taxi usage.
Ray Carrick, the Ambulance Service Union’s assistant general secretary, said it was vital to fill the jobs in the service.
He said: “North West Ambulance service must make sure it backfills positions which are created when PTS staff seek promotion to other areas of the service. There should not be this many vacant positions.
“I know there was a committee set up to try and stop the usage of taxis in this way within the service.”
The service says a satellite navigation system will be piloted to improve efficiency as well as the recruitment of more staff.
An ambulance spokeswoman said: “Details of the pilot scheme have yet to be finalised, but the potential increase in productivity and reduction in taxi costs could be of considerable benefit to the Trust.” She added the service’s overall budget has not been exceeded as a result of taxi usage.
Ray Hughes, 68, who lives near Penny Lane in Mossley Hill, has used the PTS service for 14 years to get to the Royal and Broadgreen hospitals as he is wheelchair bound.
He often has to travel in hackney cabs and private hire cars as opposed to the ambulance service’s own vehicles.
He said: “There have been times when I have waited in the hospital foyer for hours to be taken home.
“I’ve seen five or six ambulances lined up outside but I have had to wait for a taxi. I am not surprised so much money has been wasted.
“I have to use taxis on a regular basis. I have known some people travel all the way to Wales in a taxi because the hospitals serve a wide area.
“The service should make sure it has enough staff to man the vehicles, instead of spending money on taxis. Anybody can see this cannot be cost effective.”
Mr Hughes also claims he has seen files and equipment transported by ambulance, but the service categorically deny this, saying they have specific vehicles for such jobs.
Source; Liverpool Daily Post
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