Community Transport Crucial for Hospital Access in Rural Wales

In rural Wales, John and Joan, a married couple, consider the drivers who transport them to hospital essential. They depend on a community transport service for journeys of nearly 40 miles (64km) to 86-year-old John’s routine medical appointments and for their return home. Dolen Teifi, located in Ceredigion, reported an increase in the number of individuals it assists in reaching hospitals, attributing this rise to insufficient transport options in rural regions. The Welsh government stated its dedication to enhancing bus services and confirmed that transport is provided for patients “needing to get to non-emergency appointments who have a specific medical need”. John and Joan Barrington Powell frequently travel from their residence in Llandysul, Ceredigion, to Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, with each trip exceeding an hour in duration. John stated, “Since the bus services got worse, we have to use them [Dolen Teifi].” He added, “It’s either that or a private taxi which would be more expensive.” A Dolen Teifi driver picks up John and Joan, transports them to Llanelli, waits for their appointment to conclude, and then brings them back home. Both individuals expressed that they would be unable to cope without this service. John mentioned, “At one time we used the ambulances, but we couldn’t rely on them and Joan has to come with me and she couldn’t go on the ambulances.” Although ambulances are provided for patient transport to health appointments, only the patient is permitted to travel. John explained, “I can’t use my hands to feed myself or do things.” He continued, “Joan has to do that, so she has to come with me.” Dolen Teifi has completed almost 50,000 journeys this year, with 10,000 of these being for health-related purposes. However, the service was unable to fulfill over 2,000 requests during the year, with half of these unfulfilled requests also being health-related. John Hands, one of Dolen Teifi’s 783 volunteer drivers, commented, “Since they’ve cut the buses over the years, the demand for this kind of transport has gone up.” Having volunteered with Dolen Teifi for over 20 years, traveling throughout Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire, and Swansea, he noted that the majority of his current journeys involve hospital appointments, including those for John and Joan to Prince Phillip Hospital. He added, “I feel that I’m getting a bit tired, and also the demand is increasing all the time.” John Hands further suggested, “I think the NHS should be paying for us to come and collect John, to take him to see a specialist, because for John to use this vehicle today, I reckon it’s going to cost him something in the region of about £50.” The Community Transport Association (CTA) reported a rise in demand throughout Wales. Gemma Lelliot, director of CTA Wales, which advocates for discounts on community transport for bus pass holders, stated, “We know that our members are delivering nearly a million journeys a year and more than 60% of those journeys go to a health destination.” Lelliot remarked, “Community transport has always fallen in between the cracks, it’s not considered to be part of health and social care.” She continued, “It’s not considered to be part of the mainstream transport network and so there isn’t that core funding element for it.” Keith Evans, a councillor and director of the volunteer-operated not-for-profit organization Llandysul Pont Tyweli Ymlaen, observed that buses are “hardly seen” in the Llandysul vicinity. He commented, “With the cutbacks that we’ve had in the budget, the austerity over the last decade and more, we’re losing more of our normal bus services.” Evans further noted that Ceredigion has a significant elderly population, “and they cannot get to their appointments, be it doctor, specialist, surgeries or go to hospital appointments.” A spokesperson for the Welsh government stated that non-emergency transport is provided for patients with a specific medical requirement, with planning and funding responsibilities assigned to the NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee. The spokesperson also indicated that a forthcoming new bus Bill in the Senedd aims to “put people before profit.” They added, “To help smooth the transition towards bus franchising we’ve invested £64m this year to make improvements to our existing networks first.” Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content of external sites. Information regarding their approach to external linking is available.