Patient Transport Contracts and Tenders

Patient transport contracts cover non-emergency patient transport services (NEPTS), such as planned journeys to and from appointments, discharges, and renal, bariatric, mental health and secure transport, usually run by or on behalf of NHS trusts and integrated care boards.

Stotles brings together patient transport tenders and contracts from 100+ portals into one search, so you do not have to check each portal separately, and you can set alerts for new opportunities across the UK and Ireland.

If you want to search the government portals directly, Find a Tender carries higher-value contracts across the UK and Contracts Finder carries lower-value contracts in England. Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales and eTendersNI cover Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Ireland's eTenders covers Irish public bodies, and many councils, NHS bodies and housing associations publish on their own e-tendering portals such as ProContract. NHS bodies publish patient transport contracts on the Department of Health and Social Care's Atamis portal as well as Find a Tender, and many awards use the Provider Selection Regime.

Patient transport tenders are scored on quality and price, including response and journey times, vehicle and crew standards, patient experience, safeguarding and contract mobilisation. Contracts are often split into core, renal and secure lots, so providers can bid for the lots they already run.

Providers of patient transport services in England must be registered with the Care Quality Commission for transport services, and drivers and crews need the right driving licences and training. Tenders usually set minimum insurance cover, check financial standing and ask for evidence of similar contracts at selection stage. Under the Procurement Act 2023, suppliers can be excluded for certain criminal convictions, insolvency or failure to pay tax.

Patient transport is let both ways. Some trusts let a single contract covering all patient transport needs; others split into lots by type of journey, such as core, renal and secure transport, or by geography across several boroughs. Recent large awards include Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust's multi-trust contract split into core, renal and secure lots, and a regional award covering Lancashire and part of Cumbria.

The NHS London Procurement Partnership non-emergency patient transport and other transport services dynamic purchasing system covers non-emergency patient transport and secure patient transport, and buyers call off from it by further competition rather than by open tender.

NHS trusts including North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare, Hertfordshire Partnership University and Warrington and Halton Hospitals have called off from it, as has NHS England.

NHS trusts, integrated care boards and NHS Shared Business Services acting on their behalf run the large majority of this work, with contracts often covering a single trust, several neighbouring trusts, or an entire region. Health and Social Care Northern Ireland's Business Services Organisation runs equivalent procurement for Northern Ireland.

Read commissioning intentions, service reviews, market position statements and Provider Selection Regime notices, which show patient transport work coming due ahead of a notice. On Stotles you can track those signals and the commissioners behind them, then follow a notice from pre-tender through to award.

Patient transport notices carry 85143000 (Ambulance services) and 60130000 (Special-purpose road passenger-transport services).