ERS Medical goes live in Norfolk!
ERS Medical has gone live in Norfolk! From the 1st October ERS Medical is providing non emergency patient transport service for Norfolk (excluding Great Yarmouth and Waveney).
ERS Medical is already a familiar name in the area as its courier division has been operating around Norfolk since July 2012. Its fleet of courier vehicles service the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn as well as GP surgeries, dentists and podiatrists in the region.
ERS Medical was awarded the 5-year contract to provide the service across all of Norfolk excluding Great Yarmouth and Waveney, by the NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups for Norwich, South Norfolk, West Norfolk and North Norfolk.
The service will transport patients who are registered with a GP Practice in Norwich, South, West or North Norfolk, who have a medical need and who are unable to travel without assistance. About 115,000 patient journeys were undertaken in 2013/14.
For patients there will be no change in service, just a change of telephone number. If eligible, patients will still be taken to their appointment via patient transport vehicles. And regular patients will recognise familiar faces because many of the staff have transferred to ERS Medical.
For those booking patient transport in this area, please use the new dedicated number: 0333 240 4100.
Nikki Cocks, Director of Operations and Delivery for NHS Norwich Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “We re-procured the contract to run this service in compliance with public sector legislation. ERS Medical was chosen from a number of bidders, based on the quality of the service offered and also value for taxpayers’ money.
“We look forward to working with ERS Medical to continue an excellent and valued NHS service to our patients.”
ERS Medical is delighted to expand our offering in Norfolk and build on the existing services we’ve been delivering to the area for a number of years. We look forward to continuing to work with the Norfolk community and delivering a service which is focussed on patient care.
ERS Medical is also working with Voluntary Norfolk to bring back the ‘Car Link’ Volunteer Drivers’ Scheme into operation. The Scheme will recruit and train volunteer drivers to transport patients and clients to health, social care and wellbeing appointments. Additionally, its national apprenticeship scheme, in partnership with YMCA Training, will see ERS Medical offering career opportunities locally to candidates aged 18 to 24. The scheme presents an opportunity to work within the healthcare sector on either a one or two-year fixed term contract while gaining Level 2 and 3 NVQ qualifications. Visit www.ersmedical.co.uk/volunteers-non-emergency-patient-transport for more information.
