Ambulance Victoria (AV) provides Non-Emergency Patient Transport (NEPT) based on the Non-Emergency Patient Transport Regulations 2016 and the Non-Emergency Clinical Practice Protocols (CPPs).
If it’s an emergency, call Triple Zero (000).
NEPT transports are used for:
- Transporting patients between hospitals.
- Transporting patients from home to appointments.
- Transporting aged care patients to and from specialist appointments and rehabilitation.
NEPT transports happen by road or air transport.
NEPT trips are approved by a health professional who checks there is a clinical need based on the Non-Emergency Patient Transport Regulations 2016.
Patient transport bookings are assessed under clinical guidelines created by the Ambulance Medical Advisory Committee and the Department of Health.
Booking NEPT
Pre-booked transport requests (other than those required within 90 minutes) must be booked using the NEPT booking form.
For NEPT transport required within 90 minutes, phone bookings can be made by calling 1300 366 313.
NEPT booking process
- Book using the NEPT booking form or by calling 1300 366 313 if the NEPT transport is required within 90 minutes.
- A confirmation email will be sent to advise the booking has been received.
- Another confirmation email will be sent from Triple Zero Victoria (TZV) to advise that the booking has been processed.
- All return transport requests will only be actioned once TZV receives verbal confirmation (via 1300 366 313) that the patient is ready. All return trips are still required to have been booked in advance using the online booking form.
Booking requests which do not qualify for transport will be advised via email. The health service requesting the booking is responsible for discussing alternative transport options, ie assistance from family or friends, taxi or rideshare services and public transport. View Community transport providers.
NEPT booking criteria
As per the Non-Emergency Patient Transport Regulations 2016, to qualify for NEPT transport, the patient must meet all of the following three criteria:
- The transport must be clinically necessary.
- The patient must require clinical monitoring, care or supervision during transport provided by either a paramedic, health professional or qualified patient transport officer or attendant.
- The transport must have been authorised as being medically necessary by an
appropriate health professional.
Patients meeting the above criteria are likely to:
- Require the use of specialised medical equipment contained within the vehicle.
- Require the clinical skill levels and qualifications of the staff in the vehicle.
- Have an illness or a disability that makes it impractical to use any other form of transport, for example, severe immobility or disorientation.
Booking for mental health patients
Make mental health patient bookings by calling 1300 366 313. For all emergency transport requests, please use Triple Zero (000).
Booking for Clinic Transport Services
Clinic Transport Services (CTS) are available Monday to Friday, 7am to 4pm, within the Melbourne metropolitan area only. CTS vehicles can help walker, walker assist and hoist patients who need visual clinical monitoring.
Walker and walker assist patients must be able to:
- Walk unassisted, or with the help of a frame or a stick.
- Climb two steps into a minibus.
- Comfortably enter and exit a station wagon with minimal assistance.
- Travel comfortably in a seated position.
Walker and hoist services are available in some rural areas for patients who need visual clinical monitoring. For rural patients, please book via the NEPT booking form.
Booking CTS services
- All CTS bookings must be faxed to 1300 361 929 using the CTS booking form. For rural patients, please book via the NEPT booking form.
- Bookings will be confirmed via fax or email.
For general enquiries about CTS, walker/walker assist/hoist bookings (metropolitan Melbourne only), call 1300 366 313.
Booking requests which do not qualify for transport will be advised via email. The health service requesting the booking is responsible for discussing alternative transport options, ie assistance from family or friends, taxi or rideshare services and public transport. View Community transport providers.
CTS booking criteria
Wheelchair confined patients may be transferred by hoist into a hoist vehicle and transported with their own wheelchair.
Patients may not be suitable for transport by CTS if they:
- Require intervening treatment, monitoring, IV therapy, oxygen or clinical observations while in transit
- Require transport for mental health conditions
- Are unable to travel with other patients for infection control or other reasons
- Need to be transported directly to an emergency department
- The patient’s weight, girth, or clinical requirements mean that an alternative resource (for example, Complex Patient Ambulance Vehicle (CPAV) is warranted in the circumstances.
Stretcher resources
Stretcher patients may be low, medium, or high acuity and must require treatment, monitoring, observation, or supervision during transport. Stretcher transport services are available in Melbourne and in regional areas.
Stretcher resources are assigned to eligible bookings made via the NEPT booking form.
Complex Patient Ambulance Vehicles resources
Complex Patient Ambulance Vehicles (CPAV) are specialised resources used for transport of bariatric patients or where specialist on-board equipment is required. The CPAV crew may assist an emergency ambulance to lift or extract a patient, or where patients cannot be accommodated using an alternate platform. CPAV resources are available in metropolitan Melbourne and many rural locations across the state.
CPAV resources are assigned to eligible bookings made via the NEPT booking form.
If CPAV is required within a 90 minute timeframe, call Triple Zero Victoria on 1300 366 313.
Billable transports
Billable transports are transports that do not meet the Ambulance Service Payment Guidelines and cannot be booked via Triple Zero Victoria. If a patient’s circumstances do not meet the guidelines for patient transport and/or the patient is personally responsible for payment, they can contact a patient transport provider directly to request a quote as to the cost of the proposed transport. Ambulance Victoria does not quote for this service.
Please refer to the public register of licensed Non-Emergency Patient Transport providers for a list of patient transport providers.
Where a transport is billable, the responsibility for payment is managed directly between the provider and the individual contracting them to provide a service. Ambulance Victoria is not involved in this process and has no visibility over quotes provided by Patient Transport providers.
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