Getting your patient to hospital

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) provides 999 services throughout the South West region. The areas we cover include Bath & North East Somerset, North Somerset, Bristol, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire, Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire.

As part of its remit the Trust facilitates requests from healthcare professionals for both emergency and urgent ambulance transport.

There are a number of ways to transport your patient to hospital and a SWASFT ambulance is not always the appropriate way.

Please familiarise yourself with all the methods of transport available for your patient which are detailed below and select the appropriate one.

If a SWASFT ambulance is the best means of transport for your patient, please refer to the full guide.

This guide provides guidance for healthcare professionals and explains when it is appropriate to request ambulance transport, and what information will need to be captured when making a request.

Please note that when calling an urgent ambulance, it is important that you call the appropriate telephone number that manages ambulance requests for your area/region.