Ambulance Service taxi bill doubles to £4 million

WEST Midlands Ambulance Service has doubled its spending on taxis to transport patients for non-urgent work, it has been revealed.

It spent £4,082,000 in 2018-19, up from £2,028,000 the year before.

However, the service, which recently lost a key contract to supply non-emergency patient transport after the bid went to a private firm, spent nothing on private ambulances in 2018-19.

Major ambulance trusts are increasingly relying on private ambulances to attend 999 calls, an investigation has found.

In the West Midlands, more than 80 ambulance service staff were left fearing for their jobs after a key patient transport contract was handed to a private firm.

West Midlands Ambulance Service was said to have held the deal – covering non-emergency transport in Worcestershire – for more 30 years.

But Unison, which represents workers, said it had been handed to E-zec Medical Transport – sparking fears for hubs at Kidderminster, Bromsgrove and Worcester.

The union said: “This is a devastating decision for staff.”

It said E-zec had not confirmed if it will keep the patient transport service hubs after it took over next April and question marks hung over pensions and terms and conditions for workers.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said it lost out because it “refused to compromise on patient safety”.

Research shows England’s ambulance trusts spent more than £92 million in the last year on private ambulances and taxis to transport patients.

Some trusts rely on private ambulances due to a chronic shortage of NHS staff and ongoing problems with recruitment, they claim.

Earlier this year, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) published a damning report warning that patients were being put at risk by private ambulances.

It found that some firms were failing to obtain references or carry out criminal records checks while a lack of staff training was leading to serious patient harm.