There is a commitment to deliver prudent health care services to people as close to their home as possible, there will be times when patients will be required to travel to access specialist healthcare in line with their clinical needs. This may include:
The scope of the Patient Travel Policy Framework includes access to secondary and tertiary care services. Attendance at GP surgeries, Optometrist, Dental and other community health care services is out of scope.
The increasing modernisation of the outpatient landscape, the specialisation in medicine and the continuing advances in sophisticated equipment and technology will mean that, in future, some services will only being available in certain locations.
Socio-economic factors should not be barriers that prevent the people in Wales from accessing timely care in line with their clinical needs.
Supporting vulnerable patients to attend appointments (whether it be related to frailty/disability or living in rural part of Wales with limited access to transport links) has benefits for both the patient and the NHS. It ensures that patients can access the healthcare they require to meet their clinical needs, while enabling services to maximise efficiency by reducing non-attendance and subsequent lost capacity.
The policy should ensure that patients should be supported to travel to and from hospital by the most appropriate and cost-effective mode of transport in line with assessed eligibility criteria and individual needs. Patients who do not meet identified eligibility criteria will be supported to identify how to best make their own travel arrangements, e.g., signposting to information on health board landing pages, local transport information. Health boards should work with partners to develop travel plans and information for their local population.
This policy to be read in conjunction with the SBHB Communication and Engagement Plan which includes approaches to effectively inform both the public and professionals of the benefits of travelling to access care, the support available to attend appointments and how support can be accessed.
This guidance has been developed after considering the key legislative and strategic drivers to deliver prudent healthcare services to the Welsh population (see Appendix I).
This Patient Travel Policy which should be communicated effectively to raise public and professional awareness of what support may be available to ensure patients access the health care they need.
SBHB will promote the policy to patients to mitigate the risk of socio-economic factors preventing patients from accessing the health care they need. This includes clear, accessible, and signposted patient-facing information on the health board’s website as well as information following referral, e.g., information provided by the clinician making the referral and the referral confirmation letter.
The policy also needs to be read in conjunction with the SBHB sustainable travel plans which sets out how the HB works with partners to facilitate access to health and care services for their population.
This Patient Travel Policy is supported by approved financial control policies and procedures.
It should be made clear that by accepting appointments, regardless of the location, that the patient is entering into a ‘compactum’ with the NHS provider and is accepting their role and responsibilities as a partner in their care (see Roles and Responsibilities below).
The Patient Travel Policy should clearly reflect an equitable and fair approach and ensure that care is assured to all, without discrimination, on grounds of sex, marital status, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, language, social origin, other personal attributes, including beliefs or opinions, such as religious beliefs or political opinions.
The Patient Travel Policy should support patient-centred approaches where patients are empowered to become partners in their care and be actively involved in shared decision-making regarding their pathways.
The Policy should reflect co-production with patients. The Policy should be reviewed and updated in line with patient feedback.
The Patient Travel Policy is accessible to the public is included on the intranet sites.
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