In 2013 the contract to run Patient Transport Services in Greater Manchester was taken from NWAS and awarded to Arriva. The resulting decline in standards for patients has been well documented by the MEN. All other PTS contracts currently remain with NWAS.
Each of the 5 PTS contracts in the NW (Cumbria, Lancashire, Cheshire Wirral & Warrington, Merseyside, Greater Manchester) are currently in a tendering process for a new 5 year contract. NWAS is working with St. John Ambulance in a bid to win the GM PTS service back from Arriva. However NWAS is also up against Arriva plus an assortment of other potential private sector providers in each of the other NW contract areas.
The lead commissioner for all 5 contracts is NHS Blackpool CCG and the UNISON NWAS branch has launched an online petition to put pressure on them to return the GM contract back to the public sector and award the contract to NWAS. It is hoped that this campaign will also put pressure on the CCG to keep all the other contract areas within the public sector.
The commissioners are currently evaluating bids. Bidders will then be interviewed in late October and a “recommended bidder” selected for board approval by November 15. The new service providers will begin to operate the service from July 2016.
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