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Arriva Hospital Transport

Posted By wallyb

"Arriva Hospital Transport"

About: Arriva Transport Solutions Limited

(as the patient),

This is a sort of sequel to a story I told two weeks ago regarding Hospital Transport and if this story keeps up it has every chance of developing into a saga

I pre-booked transport with Arriva for an Hospital appointment at the Pacemaker Clinic UHSM Wythenshawe the time of the appointment was for 2-45pm and I was ready and waiting 2 hours before as they request you to be. 2-45pm came and they had not turned up so I rang them and the operator asked for my phone number and she would get the driver to call me so while I was waiting I rang the Pacemaker Clinic and they said the deadline for me to be there was 3-30pm, 30 mins had passed and no call from the Arriva driver so I rang again another operator answered so I gave her the story blah blah and she said they did not have a phone number on record for me so they could not phone but if I gave her my number she would get the driver to ring me with an ETA. So to cut a long story short I received no call and at 3-55pm a driver from Arriva came to the door I explained to him that it was too late as 3-30pm was the deadline, he was very courteous and apologetic and informed me he had only been given the job 20mins previous, I will say no more except that I missed a very important appointment to have my Pacemaker and wound checked that had only been inserted 2 weeks ago.... lets hope it keeps going! !

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Responses

Response from Communications Officer, Arriva Transport Solutions Limited 9 years ago
Arriva Transport Solutions Limited

Submitted on 21/10/2014 at 15:21
Published on Care Opinion at 15:26

From the details you have provided, it sounds like this booking had been planned to a vehicle and that the crew of that vehicle experienced a delay with their previous journey and this resulted in us having to assign your journey to another crew and vehicle. We have a control centre and this is where journeys are planned and dynamically controlled in real time, this is also potentially where you called for an update. Although this is not the same number as the one you would have called to book your transport, as the NHS booking centre for your area would have booked your transport or the staff at the clinic where you attend may have booked your transport.

Our control centre should have been in contact with your clinic to inform them of your delay and make sure they could still see you. I am not able to establish if this did occur and what the outcome was without further details from you. I am very concerned that you did not receive a call back and if possible we would like to try to identify the call handler to bring this to their attention so that lessons can be learnt. I am sorry that you missed your appointment and I would encourage you to get in touch with us so that we can work out exactly what happened and who was involved to ensure that lessons are learnt.

Please can you to get in touch directly by contacting our patient experience team by emailing patientexperience@arriva.co.uk or by calling 0800 023 2292.

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Update posted by wallyb (the patient)

I had a similar bad experience with Arriva transport a couple of weeks ago. The story was published on here and I am still waiting for a response. I do not want to point the finger of blame on any individual I realize they must have a difficult job and of course they are on the front line so to speak. I also realize the logistics involved in running this sort of service and on other occasions I have received excellent service care and attention from your drivers. I just seem to have hit a bad patch being let down twice in two weeks is not good and if you cant fulfill your commitment, then please let the person know they may be able to make alternative arrangements and not miss a hospital appointment that could be vital. The reason for my complaint was to let the powers that be at Arriva know that all is not well and some things need fixing.

Response from Communications Officer, Arriva Transport Solutions Limited 9 years ago
Arriva Transport Solutions Limited

Submitted on 23/10/2014 at 12:52
Published on Care Opinion at 17:03

Thank you for contacting us direct regarding the first issue you had with your transport a couple of weeks ago. I have been in touch with Patient Opinion as your first story did not come through to me and we are going to work together to resolve this. Your complaint was originally flagged with the North West Ambulance Service and therefore I was not alerted to the story to offer a reply. I have provided Patient Opinion with the services and areas that we cover in hope that any future feedback does arrive with me so that we can respond.

I have spoken to our Patient Experience Team and your complaint is currently going through an investigation. Would you like me to add this to the original complaint, so that you can receive a response to both in a single letter?

If you would like to speak to me direct you can do so by calling my direct dial 01706 889 808. Alternatively I can continue to respond to you on here or you could speak with our Patient Experience Team.

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Update posted by wallyb (the patient)

Thanks for your response and attention to my complaint I will I will give you a ring and we can discuss Thanks again

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