Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust is one of the largest providers in the country of specialist mental health services to adults and older people in Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Swindon. Working closely with other agencies they deliver the highest quality specialist care.

Reliance delivers transport and care on behalf of the Trust for older adults to day centres, and also for users of all ages detained under the Mental Health Act.

For detained service users Reliance delivers transport for the following types of journeys:

• Admission – Transport from an address within the community to a mental health unit in the Avon & Wiltshire area.
• Transfer – From one mental health unit to another within Trust area.
• Outpatients Appointments – The transport of a sectioned service user to an acute hospital, such as the Bristol Royal Infirmary or Royal United Hospital, Bath, for treatment.
• Court – Transport of a service user to a court appearance from a mental health unit.
• Out of Area Admission – Collection of a service user who is outside of the Avon & Wiltshire area and requires to be returned to the Trust area.

Completing over 2000 movements a year, the Reliance team is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year from our dedicated call and control centre to ensure that transport is available whenever it is required. This ensures that service users can be moved whenever required, and police resource requirements to transport secure mental health service users are reduced, saving valuable police time.

Reliance works closely with NHS, Local Authority staff and the Police to ensure that service users are transported safely. Dependent on the service user’s risk assessment provided by the Trust we provide a crew of 2, 3 staff. All staff are carefully selected, CRB checked and trained in First Aid, Infection Control, Interpersonal skills, Patient Assistance Techniques and Driving skills as well as Mental Health Awareness.

Reliance vehicles are discreet to ensure patient privacy at all times. Our driver escorts take great pride in ensuring our passengers don’t feel segregated or isolated and that they arrive at their destination as safely and as calmly as possible.

We also provide day care services for all older adults, some of whom are dementia sufferers. When planning the routes for older adult service users, co-ordinators always try to ensure the same drivers are collecting the same patients whenever possible. This reduces anxiety levels and means relationships can be built between the driver escorts and service users.