West Midlands Ambulance Service loses patient transport contract

West Midlands Ambulance Service has lost the contract to transport patients for routine hospital appointments in North Staffordshire.

NSL, formerly the car park operator NCP, is to take over the £3m contract for the next three years.

The North Staffordshire clinical commissioning group said it had chosen the firm because it would provide a "cost effective and efficient" service.

The ambulance service said drivers would be transferred to the new firm.

A spokesperson for the service said it was "disappointed at not retaining the contract" which it had run for the last four years.

'Track record'

It said it makes about one million non-emergency Patient Transport Service (PTS) journeys each year.

NSL - which was NCP until 2009 - operates car parks, parking enforcement and park-and-ride services.

It also runs patient transport for NHS Kent and Medway and in Cornwall, Somerset and parts of Devon.

NSL will take over the running of the service in North Staffordshire on 1 August.

Dr David Hughes from the North Staffordshire CCG said: "NSL have a proven track record in providing patient transport services and currently provide an excellent service in the South Staffordshire area."

Alastair Cooper, NSL Care Services MD, said: "We are delighted to have been selected to run the service in North Staffordshire and we have already started planning the mobilisation of the service."