Non-Emergency Patient Transport (NEPT) evolved from an identified need in the Victorian health care system in the late 1990’s when there was a major reform of the (then) Metropolitan Ambulance Service. The main reason for the reform was that many patients were being delayed in their appointments, as ambulances were being redirected to emergency cases. During the early years of the new century, many lobbied for change, as the service was unregulated. In October 2003 the State Parliament passed the Non-Emergency Patient Transport Act 2003. This act lead to regulations being developed. NEPT regulations didn’t come into place until a few years later, and finally, came into effect on February 1, 2006 (Huggins & Shugg, 2015). NEPT provide a transport service for patients that require clinical monitoring, but do not require a time-critical, emergency ambulance. NEPT transports patients who can wait a minimum of 90 minutes for transportation either, to or from hospital or between hospitals. NEPT transport more than 230,000 patients annually ("Non-emergency Patient Transport – Ambulance Victoria", 2016).
