New shuttle bus linking Shropshire's major hospitals among new services to be offered to patients
Patients will benefit from a new shuttle service that will link Shropshire's major hospitals, it has been revealed.
It comes as a new firm has been appointed to provide 100,000 non-emergency patient journeys each year across Shropshire and Powys.
Health bosses say the move will "add important new services" to the local health economy.
E-zec Medical Transport Services (E-zec) has been awarded a five-year contract to supply non-emergency patient transport services across the county.
Services will also be accessible to Powys residents who need to visit the county's acute hospitals.
The contract will start on October 1, with the potential for it to be extended by a further two years.
In addition to standard patient transport services, E-zec will be providing a dedicated renal manager to support dialysis patients across the region.
It will also provide a shuttle service linking the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, and a support service to facilitate the discharge of long-stay patients and their equipment.
To deliver this, E-zec will supply more than 55 new vehicles, including specialist bariatric ambulances.
The company will operate from three locations across the region.
Its main base will be in Shrewsbury, which will include a contact centre, specialist teams and central functions, but there will also be hubs in Powys and north Shropshire.
The move means the firm also needs to recruit to a number of positions.
Wayne Spedding, operations director of E-zec, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded the contract to provide non-emergency patient transport services across Shropshire and Powys.
"It recognises our commitment to provide the best possible patient centred care.
"We look forward to working with the commissioning groups, to deliver an innovative, best in class service to all our users across Shropshire and Powys.”
Claire Parker, director of partnerships for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group, added: “We are pleased to appoint E-zec Medical – it has a strong track record as a non-emergency patient transport provider and will add important new services to our local health economy.
"We share a common commitment to providing the highest quality of services to our communities so we are looking forward to working together."
The company is England’s largest independent provider of non-emergency patient transport services and has around 1,400 staff.
It operates 550 vehicles and is now in its 20th year of providing patient transport services to NHS trust partners and patients.
For anyone interested in applying for the new roles more details are available at e-zec.co.uk/careers.
