Policy / Research

Healthy Communities in Scotland

Scotland’s Community Transport movement believes everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, should have access to the local transport they need to lead a happy, healthy life.

Community Transport is at the heart of a healthy community. And it should be at the heart of our health & social care system. But is it?

Our Members

CTA has more than 200 members across Scotland. Every day, in our biggest cities and most remote villages, they help Scots to lead happier, healthier lives. Thousands of friendly, professional and trained drivers, passenger assistants and volunteers use accessible cars, minibuses, buses and bikes to deliver:

  • Non-emergency patient transport
  • Social care transport
  • Prescription collection services
  • Active travel projects
  • Befriending services

You can find out more by watching our new video, which features South West Community Transport in Glasgow:

Our Research

In March 2024, we launched a new research project to find out:

  • How are NHS Boards complying with their 2019 legal duties?
  • How are Community Transport operators making Scotland healthier and what challenges do they face?
  • What is the value of Community Transport for passengers who rely on our sector to access health & social care?

Our Findings

Community Transport improves access to health & social care. Our members deliver 329,300 journeys to health-related destinations and 204,700 journeys to social care-related destinations each year. 39% of the passengers we spoke to told us they would otherwise have been unable to travel.

NHS Boards are failing to implement the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019. Just 5 out of 14 are complying with their duty to deliver community benefit, while only 2 out of 14 are complying with their duty to work with Community Transport. None are complying with their duty to report progress.

Community Transport services are underfunded and undervalued – only 28% receive funding for health journeys, while just 16% receive funding for social care journeys.

Spending on non-emergency patient transport is not cost-effective, with an over-reliance on ad hoc and expensive taxis. NHS Boards have spent more than £20.9m on taxis in the last 5 years – six times more than on Community Transport.

Community Transport operators are being overwhelmed by rising demand. 72% report increased demand in the last 12 months, and 49% ‘often’ or ‘sometimes’ refuse requests for support.

There is a serious risk of lifeline services being lost. 26% are not confident they will survive the next 3 years, while 53% report driver or volunteer shortages.

Read our summary blog

Freedom of Information (FoI) responses from NHS Boards

Click here to see all of our findings

Our Campaign

Non-emergency patient transport services delivered by local charities, community groups and social enterprises do not receive the recognition, funding or support they need or deserve. Most NHS Boards are failing to comply with their 2019 legal duties.

More than 6 years on, Community Transport operators are still struggling and passengers are still waiting.

That’s why we’re calling for:

  • Investment in Community Transport to save lifeline services, meet rising demand and prepare for an ageing population
  • Harnessing the preventative power of community solutions to protect our NHS, improve outcomes and reduce costs
  • A new partnership between Community Transport, the NHS and the Scottish Ambulance Service to prevent missed appointments, reduce waiting lists and end delayed discharge

We are now meeting with NHS Boards, stakeholders and other interested parties to discuss our findings, advocate for our sector and support progress on implementing our recommendations.

Further Reading

Government commitments, strategies and plans:

Research and reports by CTA:

Responses to calls for evidence by CTA:

Research and reports by other organisations:

Stay up-to-date

Make sure you stay up-to-date with all of the latest news in our programme by checking this webpage or signing up here for our fortnightly Scotland Spotlight newsletter.

Get in touch

If you’ve got a question or a suggestion, or you’d like to be part of our movement for change, we’d love to hear from you. Email us at scotland@ctauk.org.