New hospital transport rules

Only emergency cases and categories of outpatients will be eligible for hospital transport as from September 1, the Health Division said.

The division said the use of ambulances and other patient transport vehicles provided by the Health Division had become the subject of general abuse or misuse.

The scope of the service, it insisted, was to provide facilities to patients who genuinely needed it and not to serve as a substitute to public and private transport.

The division said that apart from emergency cases, outpatients and others falling under the following categories would be eligible for hospital transport: stretcher and wheelchair cases, frail elderly persons and patients on crutches.

The division said that in the case of in-patients and outpatients, requests were to be made by the nursing officer.

It added that in the case of requests arising from the community, these had to be made in writing and were to reach the transport section of St Luke's Hospital three days in advance of the date when the transport was required.

The request had to specify the reason why an ambulance or other transport was being requested and must be endorsed by a medical practitioner.

No telephone requests will be accepted except for emergencies.