NHS patient transport in West of England 'in crisis' - warning

Hundreds of calls to the NHS service are abandoned, a whistle-blower said

Hundreds of calls to a patient transport helpline are being abandoned due to long waits, according to a whistle-blower.

The service arranges lifts for vulnerable patients to hospital appointments across the South West.

A call handler has told the BBC a patient wet himself because his partner did not want to hang up her phone and give up her place in queue.

A spokesperson from NHS South Central & West CSU apologised for the situation.

The service arranges lifts for frail and elderly patients across Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath and North East Somerset.

Health Correspondent Matthew Hill talks to whistle-blower

These are for non-urgent appointments such as investigations for various types conditions including cancer, lung disease or thrombosis.

There are 24 call handlers, with half of these working from home.

One worker, from Somerset, has warned the delays will lead to cancelled appointments, wasting consultants' time.

The whistle-blower, who wants to be anonymous, claimed that while there is no immediate risk to life, missing out on the appointments can lead to conditions not being treated promptly and so there is a deterioration of health and unnecessary pain.

But, the employee warned appointments are cancelled as calls are abandoned.

'Wet herself'

The worker said they often have people in tears and added: "We do get so many of them saying, 'I have been trying all day for two or three days'."

As examples the whistle-blower said: "A lady who was in her 80s who was the sole carer for her husband who was a little bit older.

"He could hardly move without her, and during the time she was on the phone, he actually wet himself. She had to sit and watch him.

"The appointment was so important, she couldn't risk losing her place in the queue to go and help him."

In another case the employee added: "An older lady who was again the carer for her husband. He fell out of his chair and she couldn't get to him, to help him back into his chair, so he was lying on the floor in quite a lot of pain.

"I could hear him in the background, whilst I was trying to sort out the transport problem... to get to the appointment."

A call sheet for patient transport service shows the number of calls abandoned

The BBC has seen call sheets from Tuesday 13 to Friday, 16 June that show more than half of calls are abandoned - with an average of more than 400 callers giving up each day, some after waiting for almost an hour.

The insider said that at any time there are between 20 and 70 people waiting for their calls to be answered.

"When there are three call handlers working in the afternoon, it is often the case that if all three are having to document calls then whoever has been waiting will be cut off," the whistle-blower added.

"Bearing in mind a lot of these people are elderly, quite ill, badly disabled."

A spokesperson from NHS South Central & West CSU said: "We do apologise for the inconvenience caused to those who have had to wait at certain times of the day to book advance travel for their routine appointments.

"We are aware of increasing demand and are working with the NHS organisations involved across the South West to implement an improvement plan to ensure we can reduce waiting times when booking this advance travel service for non-urgent, planned appointments."