Haemodialysis patients make around 312 journeys a year to receive this life sustaining treatment. Each journey is essential to an individual’s overall experience of care and quality of life.
Kidney Care UK therefore welcomes the update and letter from NHS England (NHSE) to request Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to implement a universal transport offer for haemodialysis patients. We also welcome the NHS England confirmation that NEPTS is offered to all in-centre dialysis patients as standard.
Kidney Care UK have been frustrated and disappointed by the lack of progress made since 2021 to implement guidance from NHSE. This was a commitment of a universal offer of transport support for in-centre haemodialysis patients, which we had worked on with them since 2019. The commitment was not just to provide access to free Non-Emergency Patient Transport (NEPT) but reimbursement for other forms of transport that allow for patient choice and flexibility, such as taking public transport, driving themselves or being driven by a friend or relative.
Our team has persevered to hold NHSE to their word. We have campaigned for free access of transport choices to haemodialysis patients for years, and for the last year made a significant contribution to the NHSE haemodialysis transport working group ensuring decision makers hear the patient voice and act. This has included collaborating with NHSE partners to produce a Framework for ICBs to implement guidance.
This tool sets out very clearly the need of transport choices for patients to access haemodialysis. It also includes an economic model to support ICBs in their financial decision making around independent patient travel and necessary and fair reimbursement.
To support implementation Professor Sir Stephen Powis, National Medical Director, NHS England and Dr Emily Lawson DBE, Chief Operating Officer, NHS England wrote in August 2024 to ICBs with an update and letter request. They are requesting ICBs to:
- Assign a senior responsible officer to oversee the consideration and implementation of the universal dialysis transport support offer in their local areas.
- Use the economic model provided in the framework to estimate the cost impacts of implementing the offer locally.
- Set up a working group with its local dialysis units and other key stakeholders to plan for the implementation of this universal offer as soon as possible.
Separately, NHSE have commenced a haemodialysis transport ‘Pathfinder’ or test area, in North West England. This aims, over the next two years, to reflect the best practice to ICBs to support further implementation across England.
Despite this progress, we believe it is unacceptable that patients are still having to pay to travel to life-sustaining treatment. We know of the difficulties encountered by many patients for whom this situation produces unwanted anxiety and cost which is compounded by the UK cost-of-living crisis. NHSE have targeted March 2026 for all ICBs in England to have implemented guidance. We will continue to work hard to monitor progress and welcome further sustained collaboration with NHS colleagues to ensure full implementation of the guidance across ICBs in England.
Please keep us posted on your experiences of patient transport by emailing our Policy team ([email protected]).
Read more:
Please take a look at our Transport to and from dialysis page for more information on the transport campaign.
NHS England: Transport support for patients attending in-centre haemodialysis update
NHS England: Dialysis transport support offer letter