Providers step in to safeguard non-emergency patient transport services in Hume

Patient Transport Officers Brodie and Ian from Health Select

Health services and patients in the Hume region will continue to have access to non-emergency patient transport (NEPT) services thanks to the collaborative efforts of health services, panel providers, the Department of Health and HSV.

Two NEPT panel providers – National Patient Transport (NPT) and Health Select – have stepped in to ensure continuity of crucial NEPT services for the area after another provider’s withdrawal.

A lack of NEPT services in the area would have put further pressure on hospitals and Ambulance Victoria and patients could have been forced to make their own travel arrangements without the necessary care while in transit.

Both NEPT providers effectively had three weeks to take over the contracts and transition 16 health services from across the fast-growing Hume region, an area of around 40,000 square kilometres.

Health Select Managing Director Jeanette Cunningham says the organisation was keenly aware of how critical NEPT services are in regional and rural Victoria.

“Most of our work involves medium acuity patients – while they may not be time critical, they are often acutely unwell with multiple intravenous lines, nasal tubes and complex needs.”

Jeanette says Health Select has sufficient resources to support the needs of regional and rural health services and is well placed to respond to state emergencies such as the 2022 floods at Rochester hospital.

“It also meant we could respond at short notice to additional demand in Hume,” she says.

Darren Wale, Angela McCormick, Luke Fitridge and James Williams from National Patient Transport

One of the largest NEPT operators in Victoria, NPT has a fleet of over 200 vehicles, and already had a presence in the Hume region because of its work with Ambulance Victoria.

NPT CEO Damian De Zilva says the organisation was keen to help maintain services in the area.

“We knew how important it was for us to stand up a service in Hume,” he says.

Damian says a lot of work went on behind the scenes to make sure the transition happened quickly including transitioning the health services over to a new booking system and training and recruiting new staff.

“We couldn’t have done that in a three-week period without the collaborative efforts of all parties involved,” he says.

Throughout that journey HSV has been an important cog in the wheel, keeping the lines of communication open with the Department of Health and various hospitals. It’s a great demonstration of what can happen when everyone works together,” he says.

Damian says NPT has relocated metropolitan staff to Hume for the short term, with a plan to recruit permanent staff locally and through its registered training organisation NPT Heart, to provide Patient Transport Officer TAFE courses in Albury-Wodonga. 

“It’s important to us to keep jobs local where possible,” he says.

HSV Chief Executive Neil Rodaway says continuity of NEPT services in Hume was a priority for everyone involved in the transition to existing panel providers who are new to this group of health services.

“I’d like to thank everyone for the rapid solution-focussed approach and sustained hard work, the willingness to work together and focus on patient outcomes that made this transition a success,” he says.

A Victorian Government review of non-emergency patient transport is currently underway, which aims to take a comprehensive look at what is needed to ensure these services meet the needs of the Victorian community both now and into the future. The final report is due in December 2023.