Does anyone have any involvement in contracts with your local NHS Trust providing patient transport for the "walking wounded". The firm I drive for lost the contract to 2 local Trust's and the work stops after today. The mileage rate was £1.40 and hadn't increased for at least 3 years. An ambulance company called E-Zec has taken on the work.

The mileage rate was pretty poor but I would typically do about £300 of this work per week. In addition of course to normal cash work. There is a lot of worry as to what will fill the gap, if anything!

As I read the new eligibility rules for the ambulance transport I think a lot of patieints we transported will now longer qualify for free transport to the hozzy.

Anyone else had a similar scenario?

They are being rewarded for carrying people for money, or in the case of Glockener, economic activity.

the trouble with that is the RAC/AA figures for total running costs for a car are higher than volunteer rates, if theres no profit element HMRC arent interested and neither is anyone else

Soon to become state policy?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/fo ... ce-2322499

Human Rights will scupper that I bet, besides it'll take a shit load of money to pay for a thousands of over seers to keep an eye on them...and thats never gonna happen either.

What is the status of the new company? I it a registerd p/h or taxi firm? If not, you could probably bring a case under EU Competition laws. Look up the case I've mentioned on here before of Glockner. This was concerning a hospital in Germany who used to used a firm called Glockner to provide patient services; the local health authority decided to use spare capacity to do the work using their own fleet.

To cut a long story short, the health authority lost because what they were doing was anti-competitive. They used volunteer drivers. It was deemed that any business, regardless of status was being run for "economic activity" regardless of status.

This is the basis of the on-going saga elsewhere of the s19 and s22 community transport issue.

If you were employed by your company (as opposed to being self-employed or contracted to them) you would have a good case under TUPE. It does not apply to self-employed people.

As an aside, there was an item on BBC Kent this morning criticising NSL who have recently taken over patient contracts for Dartford NHS Trust. I bet they don't have a properly licenced vehicle on the fleet! By carrying people for hire and reward, even on an NHS contract, they should, according to the Rout-v-Swallow hotel case, be licenced as p/h or psv! They are being rewarded for carrying people for money, or in the case of Glockener, economic activity.

E-Zec vehicles now in evidence. All 13 and 63 plate. Full blown ambulances plus Vito's and Experts liveried as ambulances.