July 2014 - case study 1
Date: 30 June 2014
- Details:
The complainant was unhappy that the patient’s wife was told she could not accompany the patient to his appointment due to no space in the patient transport vehicle, stating that his wife would need to find her own way to the appointment. The patient needs his wife to accompany him due to his medical needs.
- Findings:
The criterion was applied correctly by the Call Handler. The criterion states that transport will only be provided if the patient has a medical need, which the patient did have in this case. However if a patient requires an escort in certain circumstances, the Call Handler should consider if the escort is also able to provide transport to the patient. The patient when calling needs to inform the call handler that an escort is needed to attend with them to make sure that there is room in the vehicle.
- Lesson learnt / action taken:
The criterion was checked with the Clinical Commissioning Group and confirmed to the patient that it had been applied correctly. An apology was given for the upset that was caused when the patient’s wife was unable to attend with the patient to his appointment. A flag was placed on the patients records to note when booking transport that his wife would be accompanying him on the journey.
- Date:29 June 2014