The Patient Care Service (PCS) is the non-emergency tier of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) providing non-emergency patient transport services across Northern Ireland which provides transport for those patients who have routine appointments at hospitals and treatment centres throughout Northern Ireland. Many of these patients are vulnerable and are dependant upon PCS for their transport need.

This service is not available to everyone attending appointments at hospitals - you must have a medical need for transport; this could be because you are immobile and unable to travel by public transport or as a result of your treatment.

Once you have received your appointment and you think you may need ambulance transport to take you to hospital, you must contact your Doctor.

Currently, the ambulance service cannot take bookings for transport from patients directly. All requests must come from a Doctor, as they must confirm that you have a medical need for transport. A GP or representative will book the first appointment and any further appointments (falling within 3 months) will then be booked by the Hospital Consultant you are attending for treatment.

You should remember that the information that you give to the Doctor is very important. When a request is received, NIAS needs as much information as possible to ensure the correct type of vehicle is allocated and that the staff transporting you is aware of any medical conditions eg diabetic to ensure that we provide the highest standard and level of care.

All requests for non-emergency transport must be made with NIAS at least 48 hours in advance. This means that you must contact your Doctor before that. Late requests cannot always be accommodated by NIAS as space is quickly used and future planning is of utmost importance.

NIAS have structured times we can take patient to hospital. Normally patients are taken in between 0930-12.00 and 13.30-15.30 for appointments. The hospitals are all aware of these times and will assist you where necessary. If you need a follow-up appointment you should also request transport at the same time. This ensures that the appointment time is appropriate for the ambulance service. Please ensure that all relevant information is given to hospital staff, as they do not have these details. Your Doctor does not provide the hospital staff with information that the ambulance service requires. It is up to you to provide this.

If we do not have this information transport may be delayed and not provided and in some cases an appointment may be missed.

Whilst we are aware that patients often find visits to hospital quite difficult and may need someone to escort them, it is important to remember that escorts should only travel with those patients who medically require one. Seats are very limited and we may not be able to accommodate unplanned escorts and a delay may occur.

There are many different types of transport that could arrive to pick you up and this depends wholly on the information we have received from your Doctor, for example:

• If you are confined to a wheelchair;
• If an escort is necessary
• If you require oxygen;
• If you need to lie down;
• If you have a plaster cast;
• If you have any infectious conditions;
• If your appointment is longer than 1 hour you must let us know, so that we can plan your return journey.

Failure to provide this information could prolong your wait for an ambulance.

Children under 16 years of age must be accompanied by an adult, this is a legal requirement. Unfortunately, due to limited space, it is not possible to transport other children. Arrangements must be made to have other children cared for whilst you are at hospital.

For younger children car seats are available. Please ensure that you let us know if you will be providing your own child seat or whether you will require us to provide it when you book with your Doctor.

Ambulance Care Attendants work to very strict timeframes and patients should arrange to meet them following their appointment.

It is not advisable to deviate from the plan. If you require refreshments or are sent to another part of the hospital you should ensure that hospital staff informs Ambulance Control who can in turn advise the Ambulance Care Attendant. You may not be the only patient in the vehicle. Ambulance Care Attendants are not able to search the hospital looking for patients. You could be left behind if you disappear without informing someone. It may then be very difficult to provide another vehicle for you.

Throughout the Health Service there is increasing concern over those patients who do not keep appointments. This is also true for transport. To ensure we provide a better service to all patients, please inform us if you cannot travel so we can reallocate seats.

Contact Numbers (within your health board area):

A recorded message will play, please press Option 1 for Day Control and Option 2 for future bookings.

The opening hours for the Trust's facilities dealing with PCS matters will be:

• RNEMDC 07:00 - 21:00 Mon - Fri (daily deployment and allocation of resources)
• RNEMDC 08:00 - 20:00 Sat - Sun
• Planning 08:30 - 16:30
• South desk 08:30 - 16:30