When a patient needs support to attend a medical appointment, the Highlands and Islands Travel Scheme pays for a medical escort.
The patient can nominate any person to travel with them as an escort. They could be a family member, carer, or friend, though escorts must be 18 or older and they must be able to provide the patient with the support they need.
How do I request a medical escort?
Some groups of patients will have escorts authorised by an appropriate clinician:
- Maternity patients will have an escort authorised by their midwife, if required
- Oncology patients will have an escort authorised by their oncology nurse, if required
- Patients whose pre-assessment is carried out in Shetland will have the need for an escort assessed as part of the pre-assessment process
If you don’t fall into the categories above, you’ll have to complete a Travel Escort Application Form (docx).
Forms can also be requested from Patient Travel.
Please submit your completed form to Patient Travel, which can authorise some requests.
If your request falls outside the categories Patient Travel can authorise, it will send your request on to the Review Group. The Review Group will assess your request and decide whether to approve or deny it.
Patient Travel will let you know if your request has been approved or denied. If it has been denied, you can request a review of the decision by completing a Travel Escort Review Form (docx).
If an escort is authorised for the return journey only no accommodation costs will be reimbursed by NHS Shetland if the escort chooses to travel with the patient and remain with them during the period of their treatment
If an escort is authorised for travel to hospital and return home and the patient is expected to remain in hospital for 5 days or less the escort will be entitled to claim a maximum of 5 nights’ accommodation at the maximum rate. If the patient is anticipated to remain for longer than 5 days the escort will be expected to return on the same day and NHS Shetland will book another flight to collect the patient on discharge. If the escort wishes to remain away with the patient they will be required to fund any accommodation costs in excess of 5 days.
In exceptional circumstances it may be deemed clinically necessary for a patient to have an escort for a period of more than 5 days. In these cases a further period of accommodation will be authorised and reviewed on a regular basis.
A more detailed patient information leaflet on funded medical escorts can be found here.