Background
The non-emergency Patient Transport service is a free transport service for people who find it difficult to get to medical appointments on their own and have certain medical conditions or circumstances. This is not for appointments with your local GP or doctor, your dentist or your opticians, which is what we usually call primary care. This support is for when you have been referred by someone for tests or treatment, which is often in a hospital or another care setting.
There are new eligibility criteria on the non-emergency Patient Transport service which began on 1 April 2025 in West Yorkshire. The changes in the eligibility criteria mean that some people in West Yorkshire may no longer be able to use the non-emergency patient transport service.
As a result of this change, we want to hear from people about how they travel to appointments, including people who have used the free transport service. By doing so, we hope to understand more about people's preferences and experiences of transportation to appointments so we can look to develop and improve what is offered.
By sharing your feedback and experiences, it will help make sure your voice is helping shape how we deliver services for the right people, in the right ways.
You can access the survey using this link.
If you need any help filling in this survey, or would like it in an alternative format, please call 01924 317 659 or email: wyicb-wak.
What have people already told us?
In response to the national review on patient transport, NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) asked people living and working in West Yorkshire how people usually travel to medical appointments. In the autumn of 2024, we used a questionnaire and discussion groups supported by West Yorkshire Voice. We wanted to understand the difficulties people face, and what they would do if their normal travel arrangements weren’t available, as well as their awareness of other travel options.
We want to thank everyone who answered our questionnaire or took part in a discussion group. Over 350 people from across West Yorkshire shared their views To help us better understand how people in West Yorkshire travel to medical appointments—and how new national eligibility criteria for patient transport might affect them.
You can see what people said in the report below: