Hospital transport

We can provide patient transport service for patients who are medically restricted from using public or private transport and require the assistance of medically trained staff during their journey.

Non-emergency patient transport

Requests to book non-emergency patient transport in North Central London (Barnet, Enfield, Haringey, Camden and Islington) can be made by calling the nurse-led patient transport assessment centre on 0333 240 4909. Calls to this number will be charged at a local rate. The assessment centre is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm excluding bank holidays. Bookings can be made no earlier than four weeks in advance. Your booking may not be accepted if you do not contact them at least two working days before your appointment. Late requests for patient transport will be prioritised for patients who have been asked to attend a hospital appointment with less than two working days’ notice.

Access to non-emergency patient transport continues to be based on medical need and the patient transport assessment centre will use assessment questions for each booking to establish each patient’s eligibility to access NHS-funded transport. You will be given priority if you can demonstrate to the call centre that you need additional medical support during the journey, you find it difficult to walk or that you are the parent or guardian of a child that fits these criteria. We advise you to stress, in the ‘difficult to walk’ questions, any additional difficulties your sight loss causes you in remaining safe on public transport, any difficulties you have in finding new locations for our services and problems you may have in social distancing. If your appointment is urgent, this will also help you access patient transport. If you need to be escorted because of your condition, please explain this to DHL.

If you are not happy with the outcome of your assessment, you can appeal. This will be handled directly by the assessment centre and the decision reviewed by their nurse team.

In North Central London, DHL will contact you three days before your hospital appointment to confirm your transport arrangements. On the day, you will receive an SMS text message or a phone call confirming the time your transport will arrive. If you do not receive a confirmation, please ring 0333 240 4909 to make sure your transport is still coming for you. If you no longer need transport, please call 0333 240 4909 to let DHL know.

Please be ready up to 2 hours before your appointment time, this could be earlier if you live further away.  Drivers cannot wait more than 10 minutes, so please make sure you are ready for when transport arrives.

When you are ready to leave, please let a member of the Moorfields team know and they will help you to the main reception waiting area. If your appointment has taken place at one of our other locations, please let the clinic team know, and they will advise the transport team you are ready to go home.

DHL will try to get you home as soon as they can. However, you may have to wait up to 120 minutes to be collected.

It is important to note that journeys are planned to make the most effective use of our vehicles. This means that other patients may share the same vehicle with you, but it will always in line with national infection control guidance.

For other Moorfields sites, including Ealing, Croydon and St George’s, please see the website of the host trust for their transport arrangements.

Please note that we do not provide transport for patients attending the A&E department; hospital transport is available only for patients attending booked clinical appointments and who meet the eligibility criteria.

Hospital travel costs scheme

If you are on any of the benefits listed below, we will be able to reimburse your travel costs using our hospital travel cost scheme (HTCS).  Please note that we can only reimburse you for the cheapest form of transport available. 

Depending on your income level, universal credit may also be valid as a form of benefit.

Please bring the following items with you to enable us to process your claim as quickly as possible:

  • A valid benefit document dated within the last year
  • A ticket or receipt showing proof of cost of travel
  • Your appointment letter

Escort fares are reimbursed if the patient is registered sight or severely sight impaired or registered disabled. Proof of disability must be produced at time of the claim.

A fuel allowance upon receipt may be payable at 20 pence per mile. Parking costs up to £8.00 per day upon receipt.

Cashiers 

Cashiers reimburse costs Monday to Friday 9.30am-4pm. For afternoon appointments please visit the cashiers’ office before your appointment.

For further information about cashiers please call 020 7566 2400 or email moorfields.cashiers@nhs.net.

(Note: cashiers do not deal with transport inquiries.  Please call the patient transport assessment centre on 0333 240 4909 for queries about patient transport).

Last updated: 4th November 2020