Impact report: reducing inequalities through travel support at Birmingham Children's Hospital

Since the publication of Healthwatch Birmingham's report in July 2023, Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (BWC) identified and contacted 29,000 children and their families eligible for support with travel to outpatient hospital appointments at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, 18,483 of whom accepted the offer of support. 

This intervention has reduced the number of children not attending their appointments, resulting in an average 4% "was not brought" rate compared with 22% "was not brought" for those not offered a travel intervention. The project also enabled BWC to identify those that were not going to attend appointments and offer these slots to other families. 

At least 1,019 appointments were freed up and offered to other families, thereby reducing waiting times. This is significant as analysis from the Kings Fund show that waiting lists are growing more quickly in the most deprived areas than in the least deprived areas (2021). 

All the children and families that have been offered and received transport intervention from BWC live in an "Index of Multiple Deprivation" postcode, and are therefore from the most deprived areas of Birmingham. Of the 18,483 people that accepted transport intervention, 1,333 responded to Healthwatch Birmingham’s survey. The transport intervention supported people that described their financial situation as ‘really struggling’ or ‘just getting by’, are from diverse ethnic backgrounds, have a disability and/or a long term health condition. These groups are more likely to face barriers to accessing NHS health services, poorer experiences of care and worse outcomes. 

Of those who benefitted from transport intervention: 

• 100% were from the most deprived areas of Birmingham.
•  65% described their financial situation as ‘really struggling’ or ‘just getting by’. 
• The highest responses were from people from a white background, Asian (Pakistani) and Black African. Of the respondents from a white background 60% described their financial situation as ‘really struggling’ or ‘just getting by’, this was 52% for people from an Asian (Pakistan) background and 27% from a Black African background. 
• Those who described their financial situation as ‘really struggling’ or ‘just getting by’ found transport intervention beneficial because: - It made travelling to the appointment affordable (71%). - Reduced stress and anxiety brought on by worry about travel costs (76%). - It ensured that they did not miss their appointment (74%). 
• 25% indicated that they had a disability and/or a long term condition respectively. Of these, 77% described their financial situation as ‘really struggling’ or ‘just getting by’