'Real patients' health is suffering' says boss of Healthwatch North Yorkshire as hundreds miss medical appointments

Healthwatch North Yorkshire says that, since new national rules for free non-emergency patient transport changed in April, it is hearing from more patients who have lost access to the transport they relied on to reach hospitals and clinics.

Some are paying for taxis they cannot afford, others are relying on neighbours for a lift while too many are missing vital hospital and clinic appointments altogether.

Located at Grove Road in Harrogate, this independent champion for people using local health and social care services across North Yorkshire says the impact on patients is bigger than people might expect.

Nationally, in 2021/22, 7.6% of outpatient appointments in England ended in a “did not attend”.

Healthwatch North Yorkshire says that, while that might not seem a big number at first glance, it equates to approximately 650,000 missed appointments every month with transport problems among the key reasons why people cannot attend.

In this region, community transport providers, who are different to non-urgent/non-emergency patient transport, are already seeing a sharp rise in people asking for help since the new rules came in.

And the problem is not new.

According to Harrogate’s health watchdog, The NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, who plan and fund the NHS locally, confirmed in its Community Transport Report of January 2025 that problems in attending were directly linked to changes in eligibility.

The Harrogate-based health watchdog is calling on patients and their families and friends to share their experiences of patient transport.

To that end, it has launched an online survey to gather people’s stories.

Ashley Green, Chief Executive of Healthwatch North Yorkshire, said: “Behind every statistic is a real person whose health could suffer simply because they can’t get to where care is provided.

"We want to hear from as many people as possible in North Yorkshire so we can show decision-makers what’s really happening on the ground.

Link to survey: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/X6GOMW/

To contact Healthwatch North Yorkshire, phone 01423 788 128 or email: [email protected]

More information at: https://www.healthwatchnorthyorkshire.q.uk/