What has occurred in County Durham and Darlington?
There has been a strong history of collaborative working across sectors for eight years. This has occurred through the County Durham and Darlington Transport for Health partnership, currently chaired by a PCT Director of Partnerships. The partnership has grappled with many issues in its search for effective solutions to the local transport picture. Following a commissioned local study5, the concept of a Transport Procurement Unit reporting to an Accessibility Board was proposed. This would assess need and commission a range of providers, Durham County Council’s in-house team, NEAS, community transport and commercial companies. This model reflects practice elsewhere and builds on Audit Commission best practice. Building on a pilot Hospital Link service that had existed in East Durham for six years6, and responding to local people’s views for transport to access health appointments at other hospitals outside the county, a revamped Link service was commissioned. The scheme is complimentar
