I can’t go on like this says chief of patient transport company

David Robbins of UK Ambulance Sales Ltd told The Argus he is owed six-figure sums by Coperforma Ltd, which acknowledged some invoices are in dispute but denied being behind on agreed payments.

Mr Robbins, 55, told The Argus: “I don’t want to pull vehicles back because patients would suffer, but I can’t go on like this.”

On Monday night a leaked letter, allegedly signed by the directors of four ambulance firms which provide vehicles to Coperforma for Sussex patient transport, claimed that the company owed its subcontractors in excess of £1.2m.

Yesterday morning Coperforma admitted there was a dispute over pay but added they "vigorously reject the allegations in terms of their accuracy”.

The company said all contractual payments were up to date for the period ending July 2016, and that invoices totalling £360,000 were in dispute because details submitted do not correspond with Coperforma’s records.

Coperforma added that its network of providers is fully operative and patients will not see any interruption to their ambulance service.

Mr Robbins of UK Ambulance Sales Ltd, whose name appeared on the letter, said he did not sign it had sent a similar note outlining his own concerns to the CCG days earlier.

He told The Argus: “I’ve got 23 vehicles out there and I don’t want to pull them back because patients will suffer.”

He said after a career working in emergency services he was keen to protect patients but had appealed for help to the Clinical Commissioning Group which awarded the patient transport service for medical appointments to Coperforma.

He added: “Everyone is concerned. The patients have to come first but at what cost and how long can it go on for?”

Another signatory, Alan Willis of PTS-247, confirmed authorship of the letter and said his company was still in dispute with Coperforma over payments.

He said his company was one of Coperforma’s largest providers, contributing 40 of Coperforma’s fleet of ambulances and cars.

Of the other two signatories, The Argus could not reach Thames Ambulances boss Andrew Tuke, and a spokesman for Docklands Medical Services (DMS) director Chris Arnall said he had not given consent for his name to be listed as a signatory.

The DMS spokesman insisted that Coperforma was up to date with its payments to DMS, but added that the latest payment - for monies which were owed until days ago - were not expected to clear in DMS's bank account until today or tomorrow.

Meanwhile a group of Sussex MPs have written to Wendy Carberry, head of the lead clinical commissioning group (CCG) of the seven which awarded the patient transport contract to Coperforma, to ask what action is being taken.

Huw Merriman MP told The Argus that the group was concerned for patient welfare but had been “reassured” that contingency planning had taken place to prepare for the possibility of a walkout. He said MPs would continue to “lean on” the CCG until the dispute and surrounding issues were resolved.

PATIENT TRANSPORT FAILURE DOWN TO PRIVATE SECTOR FIRM

What is the patient transport service?

It is a non-emergency ambulance service that ferries patients from their homes to hospitals or medical centres for appointments and back again. It is for those who, for medical reasons, are unable to use private or public transport. It provides about 25,000 journeys a month.

Who previously provided the service?

South East Coast Ambulance (Secamb) ran the service with a central contact point for patients needing to book transport provided by the Patient Transport Bureau.

Why did things change?

In 2014 Secamb did not bid for the new-look contract drawn up by the county’s clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) when put out to tender. The new contract did not allow any single organisation to be both the managed service provider and a transport provider and the trust felt it could not operate in this way. Coperforma put in a bid for the £63.5 million contract and took over in April this year.

Who are Coperforma?

The private firm is based in Andover, Hampshire, and specialises in providing patient transport services. It was founded by its current managing director Michael Clayton in 2008. It uses real-time technology to schedule all journeys so it can make last-minute changes.

How does the service work?

Staff at Coperforma handle calls from patients and hospitals to book journeys. Transport is provided by sub-contracted firms including Thames Ambulance and Docklands.

How did it go when Coperforma took over?

Coperforma experienced a myriad of problems right from the start, which it put down to technical issues and delays in receiving patient information and details until shortly before the handover. It also had a higher than expected surge in calls from patients wanting to book appointments, which added to the issues.

The problems led to thousands of patients missing their appointments because ambulances were either delayed or did not turn up at all. Not only was it frustrating for patients, it also had a knock-on effect for hospitals as appointments and treatments needed to be rescheduled. Patients also faced delays of up to five hours in hospital as they waited to be taken home again. Hospital staff became so frustrated they ended up paying for taxis to take patients home instead.

At one point it was picking up only two in ten patients on time.

The patients affected included those with cancer or heart disease and others needing dialysis.

The clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) told Coperforma it urgently needed to make improvements so it could reach its target of getting 95 per cent of patients where they needed to be on time.

What other problems were there?

Ambulance drivers reported issues with the mobile phone app system used by Coperforma, which drivers said did not work properly, meaning they were missing pick-ups. Poor mobile phone reception in some areas meant the app did not work at all.

Further issues developed when one of the sub-contractors used by Coperforma, VM Langfords, went into administration.

Why did it go wrong?

An independent report commissioned by the NHS into what happened over the takeover period around April 1 was critical over its handling.

It said there were mistakes and missed opportunities and the firm had not been adequately prepared.

The report’s authors saw no evidence Coperforma had adequately stress-tested its systems, it hadn’t prepared for a tight handover of staff from the old provider and didn’t alert the CCG to problems putting patients’ details into its databases.

The CCGs took Coperforma at their word when assessing preparedness and did not ask for evidence.

Additionally the CCGs did not have a “plan B” for when things went wrong. The report has recommended that in future, big healthcare contracts should be implemented in stages rather than all at once.

How have patients and staff reacted?

Unions have threatened legal action over pay and working conditions and more than 5,500 people signed a petition calling for Coperforma to be stripped of its contract and the service returned to Secamb.

A 24-hour demo organised by the GMB was also held outside the High Weald Lewes Havens CCG office in Lewes.

There has also been criticism over allowing a private firm to provide a service previously run by the NHS.

Have the issues now been dealt with?

The CCGs in Sussex brought in a remedial plan and performance has improved. Coperforma has brought in more staff and introduced a dedicated phone number for kidney patients. It says it is now now meeting 94 per cent of its targets on average.

What is the latest row about?

Sub-contractors and Coperforma are in a dispute over pay. Bosses of companies who are paid by Coperforma have told The Argus they are owed money but Coperforma said standard invoices had been paid in full but bills amounting to £360,115 were being disputed because they have detected details that do not reconcile with their own data records.

Coperforma added that its network of providers was fully operative and patients would not see any interruption to their ambulance service.

WORKERS FURIOUS OVER PAY ISSUES

YESTERDAY The Argus was inundated with calls from employees of Docklands Medical Services, one of the ambulance companies contracted to pick up patients by Coperforma.

They said they are owed not only last month’s salary, but thousands of pounds accrued over the last several months.

Steve Barton, 50, of Hastings, said: “I’m owed just under £1,000 in back pay and pay for unsocial hours worked.”

Steve worked for the NHS as a South East Coast Ambulance driver for nine years and was transferred to VM Langfords when the Coperforma privatisation came into effect in April.

When Langfords went into administration, Docklands Medical Services offered all their staff a job and at a meeting at the Amex stadium on June 30, Michael Clayton of Coperforma gave assurances back pay would be honoured by Coperforma through Docklands’ pay systems.

A Coperforma spokesman said yesterday the firm was not backtracking on promises over back pay and commitments would be honoured in full. But Mr Barton said: “I’m absolutely fuming and disgusted, I would never have been treated like this by Secamb.”

He is also waiting for his last month’s pay, due on August 31. He has been promised it in the coming days.

Steve Nedhurst of Eastbourne received just over half of his August pay last Wednesday, and said his back pay claims total more than £2,400.

He said: “I remortgaged my house in March and kept some money back but if it was not for that I’d have lost my house by now.”

Steve, who worked for the NHS for 32 years before being transferred to Langfords and then to Docklands, said: “We were told this would all be paid by the end of July. I’ve never been in this position before.”

A spokesman for Docklands blamed a “short term cash flow problem” for the fact that staff had not received, or had only partly received, their August pay cheques and said they would be paid in the next two days.