You may be eligible to have an escort accompany you on your journey if you have any specific requirements. The escort could be a healthcare professional, relative or carer who can provide a necessary skill or service which cannot be provided by the patient transport staff, for example, to accompany someone with a physical or mental incapacity or to act as a translator. An escort may also be a person recognised as a parent or guardian of an eligible patient under the age of 16.

You will need to advise us of an accompanying escort before your journey. If an escort has not been booked in advance, they will not be able to travel with you on the day.

PTS is a limited service so we can only allow escorts to travel with those who have a genuine need for additional support. However please remember that when using the service you are in the care of healthcare professionals who will accompany you to your appointment and assist with any mobility needs you may have.

Below are some frequently asked questions about escorts, however if you have any further queries, please call 0800 0323 240.

If an escort travels with a patient to hospital and they unexpectedly get admitted, will the escort be taken home by PTS?

If a patient is admitted to hospital and therefore their return journey is cancelled, we would unfortunately not be able to take the escort back to the pick-up address.

A patient has a hospital appointment and needs PTS but they are a full time carer for their partner/child, are they able to travel too?

Although we appreciate that this can be a difficult situation, unfortunately we are unable to allow a booking for an escort for this reason.

A patient has an escort but they don’t live with the patient, can we pick them up from another address?

No. All escorts must travel from and back to the same address as the patient.