Decision Report 201507738

Summary

Mrs C's husband was an adult with incapacity and she was his power of attorney. He was diagnosed with an abscess on his right kidney and had to be transferred by air ambulance to a hospital in another board area. Mrs C accompanied her husband in the air ambulance and arranged to stay in accommodation near to the hospital. She sought to claim back the accommodation expenses from the board but her claim was refused. Mrs C complained that the board acted unreasonably by failing to refund her accommodation expenses.

Following our investigation, we established that the board had followed their patient travel policy when reaching a decision on her claim. Section 10.2 of the policy was clear that travelling in the air ambulance did not make an individual an escort for the purpose of the policy and that they would be responsible for their own accommodation and return expenses. Therefore, we did not uphold Mrs C's complaint.