Report to:

East Sussex Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC)

 

Date of meeting:

 

5 March 2026

By:

Deputy Chief Executive

 

Title:

NHS Sussex Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service (NEPTS)

 

Purpose:

To provide a progress report of the mobilisation of the new Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The Committee is recommended to consider and comment on the report and consider whether it would like to conduct further scrutiny of NEPTS.

 

1.            Background

1.1.        Non-emergency patient transport (NEPTS) is defined as the non-urgent, planned transportation of patients with a medical need for transport to and from premises providing NHS healthcare and/or between providers of NHS-funded healthcare. NEPTS is a statutory obligation for NHS commissioners to provide to transport patients to and from their healthcare appointments. NHS-funded patient transportation is intended for when it is considered essential to ensuring an individual’s safety, safe mobilisation, condition management or recovery. The NEPTS service is based on healthcare needs rather than wider social care needs and therefore there is a requirement that the service operates a set of nationally determined eligibility criteria.

1.2.        At its meeting in June 2025, the HOSC considered a progress report on the mobilisation and transition of the Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service (NEPTS) in Sussex. The re-procurement of NEPTS in Sussex was undertaken to enhance patient experience, accessibility, and operational efficiency across the region. NHS Sussex appointed ERS Transition Limited, trading as EMED Group, to be the new provider of Non-Emergency Patient Transport Services (NEPTS) for Sussex for an initial five year period, which commenced on 1 April 2025 following a detailed procurement process.

1.3.        The NEPTS service is now fully operational, having transitioned to a ‘Business as Usual’ model in October 2025. Local support has been implemented to coordinate transport across Sussex, and the service has now had sufficient time to demonstrate stability across core operational metrics, including in communication and patient access. This report provides an opportunity for the HOSC to review the progress to date.

 

2.            Supporting information

2.1.        The report, which is attached as Appendix 1 provides an overview of the current position of NEPTS in Sussex, including:

·         Context, including the transition to a new provider from 1 April 2025

·         A summary of current performance, including key improvements and challenges, ongoing monitoring and review, and key performance indicators.

·         Areas for further improvement, including discharge wait times and ‘on-the-day’ cancellations.

·         Patient feedback via Healthwatch

·         Next steps for the service

 

3.         Conclusion and reasons for recommendations

3.1       The HOSC are recommended to comment on the report and consider whether it would like to receive further updates on any elements of the NEPTS.

 

PHILIP BAKER
Deputy Chief Executive

 

Contact Officer: Patrick Major, Policy and Scrutiny Adviser

Telephone: 07701 258227
Email: patrick.major@eastsussex.gov.uk