• New Project Launch – CTA and Arriva Transport Solutions: Innovations in Health Transport

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    • New Project Launch – CTA and Arriva Transport Solutions: Innovations in Health Transport
    • by Charlotte Pearce
      Director of External Relations

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    Today, CTA is launching a new collaborative project with Arriva Transport Solutions to consider how non-emergency patient transport could be improved through more innovative models of delivery involving cross-sector partnerships and networks of provision

    In this blog CTA’s Director of External Relations explains more about the project and why health transport offers new opportunities for community transport operators to grow their reach and impact

    Transport by the community and local charities has been a long-standing benefit to the health service and patients. CTA’s own research has consistently shown that journeys into health settings are the second largest purpose given for using community transport. We know much of this is off the radar of health service commissioners, evidenced by the disconnection between the number of charities helping people to reach health settings and those that are remunerated for the work by those commissioners. Our survey in England in 2014 found that 74 per cent of operators transported people into health settings but only 24 per cent were remunerated by any local NHS body.

    Back in March (2017) we published a thought leadership paper with the Urban Transport Group considering how a ‘Total Transport’ approach could improve the commissioning of Non-Emergency Patient Transport. We also said that this could have even greater benefits if extended to improving integration within provision and promised a follow up project to explore innovative models for how this could work.

    We are fulfilling that promise by launching this new project today with Arriva Transport Solutions, a thought leader in the field of non-emergency patient transport. By working together we are going to show how commercial and charitable organisations care about the same things and they are capable of co-producing an appealing offer to commissioners and passengers alike.

    As well as showcasing innovative models of delivery we will also identify the major breakthroughs needed to make these collaborative provision models more prevalent, with recommendations for government, commissioners and those involved in service provision.

    Although this project is focused on the NHS in England it will be of interest to all CTA members as community transport in health is a big issue in all parts of the UK. The project will create a chance to exchange ideas around the nations that will hopefully help move the conversation on in all four.

    We will also create opportunities for other like-minded organisations to contribute their thoughts and ideas about innovations in policy and practice, whether they’re from government, commercial and community organisations, service-user champions or commissioning bodies.

    If you have been thinking about innovation in health transport yourself and would like to share it, or just want to say “count me in”, please get in touch at hello@ctauk.org.


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