1,700 complaints in year about patient transport
Security firm G4S has received unprecedented levels of complaints after taking over Kent’s private ambulance service, according to a report.
Medway Clinical Commissioning Group, which plans and pays for primary health services, has called for urgent action after the company’s patient transport team received more than 1,700 complaints in 12 months.
G4S provides free non-emergency transport for people unable to get to and from hospitals in the county any other way.
It took over the £90 million contract at the start of July last year, when troubled previous Larkfield-based operators NSL opted not to seek a contract renewal.
Between July 2016 and this July, G4S had 1,774 complaints, with 1,170 relating to timeliness of journeys for outpatient appointments. A performance report discussed by Medway Council shows G4S has not been meeting key targets.
It has been told vehicles and staff are not always sufficient to meet demand.
G4S previously admitted teething problems and in March said it was mobilising more staff to deal with a greater than expected demand.
One patient reported missing an appointment she had waited a year for, while the family of a terminally-ill man said he was left waiting for more than a day to be taken home from hospital.
The report, by Medway CCG, said: “We are concerned about the unprecedented level of complaints and the way G4S is handling and responding to complaints.”
The CCG issued G4S with a notice to improve in July.
An action plan was drawn up, including a review of the complaints policy and improving reporting and response times.
Progress is being monitored and as of August 21, 60% of the actions had been completed.
The remaining actions were expected to be completed by the end of this month.
Russell Hobbs, managing director for non-emergency patient transport services at G4S, said: “We have experienced high demand for non- emergency patient transport services and have taken steps to improve awareness of the complaints procedure.
In August we provided 28,681 journeys across Kent and there were 38 formal complaints raised, representing less than 1% of the total journeys undertaken.”
He said every complaint is taken seriously and investigated and the way they are handled has been improved.