The North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust has won back a five-year contract to transport patients to hospital from a subsidiary of bus company Arriva.
North West Ambulance Service ran the service as a not-for-profit venture until April 2013, taking vulnerable but non-emergency patients to and from hospital appointments.
But private firm Arriva Transport Solutions Limited (ATSL), part of bus company Arriva, undercut the NWAS bid by around £3.5m to take over the service.
Unions slammed the decision to award the contract to Arriva’s subsidiary back in 2012.
They feared creeping privatisation at the expense of experienced staff and good service.
Over 600 complaints about ATSL were put in in 2014, with nearly three-quarters (74%) upheld.
Barbara Keeley, MP for Worsley and Eccles South, welcomed the news, saying: “This is very good news for patients, as there were so many complaints about the service with Arriva. I hope we will now see substantial improvements.”
Rebecca Long-Bailey, MP for Salford and Eccles, said: “It is clear that from this case that privatisation did not create a better service after Arriva received more than 600 formal complaints in 2014.
“This service should never have been privatised and I hope that this acts as a warning to any commissioning bodies who might be entertaining the idea of further privatisation of NHS services.”
NWAS Chief Executive, Bob Williams said: “We are extremely pleased that the North West Ambulance Service has today been awarded the 5 year contract for patient transport services in Greater Manchester. However, this news is tinged with disappointment that the contract award has not been replicated in Cheshire.
“The Trust submitted a bid to provide patient transport services for each of the North West counties and was successful in Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire and Cumbria.
“The Trust lost the Greater Manchester contract to a private provider in 2013 so it is particularly gratifying to win back the delivery of patient transport in this area and we look forward to delivering improved standards of patient care to Greater Manchester patients.”
