The two hospital trusts in Suffolk each spent more than £1million on taxis in the last six years, NHS data has revealed. Data obtained via the Freedom of Information Act has shown West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSNFT), which runs West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds, spent a total of £1,061,834.42 between 2018 and 2024 so far on taxi journeys.
Of this, the highest amount was spent in 2018 (April to December) at £269,956.24, while the lowest was recorded in 2020 at £106,291.37.
In 2024 up to March, £54,008.88 was spent on taxi journeys. West Suffolk Hospital (Image: Newsquest) From April 2018 to March 2024, 13,770 journeys were paid for by WSNFT.
WSNFT revealed that some of the reasons behind taxi usage included staff transfers, equipment or medicine transfers, movement of patient records or when there was 'no other means' available. Other reasons included the transfer of pathology/blood samples, patient belongings and medications. Meanwhile, East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), which runs both Ipswich and Colchester hospitals, spent £1,262,885.
23 on taxis between 2018/19 and 2023/24. The most expensive year for taxi journeys at ESNEFT since 2018 was 2023/24, where £289,454.91 was forked out.
From the start of October 2018 to the end of May 2024, a total of 20,387 taxi journeys were paid for by ESNEFT. Mike Meers, director of digital and logistics at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: "The decision for our services to use a taxi has to meet strict criteria. The operational teams who run our hospitals review and agree all requests.
"We may choose to use a taxi service for various reasons. These include transporting equipment, for patients and for staff. "We do not routinely book taxis for staff.
But some colleagues attending blue light calls in their line of work need to be brought back to their hospital base, or they may need transporting between sites for operational reasons. "We also don't provide taxis for patients who don't need them. We always follow eligibility criteria for transport unless there's an extreme reason not to, or it's in the patient's best interest, for example to get them home quicker.
" Ipswich Hospital (Image: Sarah Lucy Brown, Newsquest) Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, said: "The trust uses taxis for many reasons, such as ensuring very vulnerable patients get to and from important appointments safely, sending specific urgent specimens to laboratories and transferring members of staff across the west Suffolk area to remedy unplanned staff shortages. "Being a rural trust with sites located across Suffolk, we are required to use taxis more frequently than others, but only do so when other forms of transport are not available and an appointment cannot be rearranged for medical reasons. "However, to ensure we use our finances in the most sustainable way possible, we are working to reduce our use of taxis.
" WSNFT said it is changing the way departments request taxis to ensure the cost of these sit with the department ordering the taxi. The trust has an agreement in place with local taxi firms which bring down the cost of the taxis..
