Isle of Wight other schemes

Patient Transport Services

The Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service (NEPTS) is for patients who:

• Need to travel to and from an appointment at a hospital or clinic
• Are discharged from hospital (and meet the eligibility criteria), or
• Need to transfer between centres, and because of their medical condition, cannot make their own way.

Meeting the eligibility criteria for transport

The criteria which determine whether or not you are eligible for NEPTS have been set by the Department of Health and are based upon whether your medical condition prevents you from travelling by any other means.

All operators of patient transport are now required to apply these rules so whilst you may have previously been able to use patient transport, this may no longer be the case if you are not deemed eligible.

Booking your transport

Isle of Wight patients should contact a healthcare professional at their GP surgery or clinic to make a booking using the NEPTS online system. 

You can then use the online NEPTS Patient Zone to book subsequent journeys, manage your bookings and check your journey status.

Further information regarding booking patient transport can be found via this link.

Voluntary community cars

Managed by a mixture of volunteers and charities, community cars can help people to stay independent, participate in their communities and access vital public services and employment. They can help you go shopping and to medical appointments, visit friends and family or enjoy a day out.

Most community cars need to be booked in advance and may have eligibility criteria you need to meet.  

Practical things to think about and questions to ask when looking for a community transport provider include:

• What type of journey are you making? Some schemes are specific and can only help in certain situations. For example, medical appointments.
• Are you eligible to use the scheme?
• Does the scheme cover your area? There are many good neighbour volunteer schemes in rural parts of the country that are for people who live in those villages.
• How much notice is required to book a trip? 
• Is there a cost involved?
• How to book?
• Does it meet any accessibility requirements you have? For example, wheelchairs or scooters or getting in and out of the car.

Optio

Optio website

Contact: 01983 522226

Optio are a community car service with volunteer drivers based across the Island. Membership of the serviceis for elderly or frail people who have transport difficulties accessing medical and social appointments.

Membership costs and fees based on mileage apply.

Companion driving services

Some care providers offer paid companion driver services. These should be registered with the local authority in the same way as regular taxis.

Driving Miss Daisy is a national organisation with franchises across the region.

Contact: 0333 014 6211