To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) who has responsibility within the NHS for judging a patient’s entitlement and eligibility to use the patient transfer service; (307432)

A patient’s eligibility for non-emergency patient transport service (PTS) should be determined either by a health care professional or by non-clinically qualified staff who are both:

clinically supervised and/or working within locally agreed protocols or guidelines, and

employed by the national health service or working under contract for the NHS.

Primary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible for commissioning ambulance services (which could include PTS) to such extent as the PCT considers necessary to meet all reasonable requirements of the area for which they are legally charged with providing services. PCTs are therefore ultimately responsible for the costs of PTS.