Dialysis patients are missing appointments and treatment because of a poor service from private patient transport company Arriva, according to a health watchdog.

Research by Healthwatch Nottinghamshire - which represents patients in the area - has found that some renal dialysis patients across the county are affected both physically and emotionally by a patient transport service, provided by Arriva Transport Solutions Ltd, that is often late and not co-ordinated efficiently.

The problems have, according to the findings, led to some patients not getting their full amount of treatment and reports that some have chosen to miss complete dialysis sessions rather than face the potential delays they had previously experienced.

Poor experiences of the service were found to have repercussions on other patients having treatment after them, their family and carers, and staff on the dialysis unit. However, the Arriva drivers and attendants were praised for providing a high quality of care and helping to improve patients' experience, despite the problems with the punctuality of the service.

Healthwatch Nottinghamshire took on the research after a number of renal patients reported poor experiences of the transport service to get to and from their dialysis sessions at Nottingham City Hospital. To find out more about patients experiences' the organisation's staff and volunteers went to the hospital and talked to 45 patients gathering over 12 hours' worth of feedback on the service.

Healthwatch Nottinghamshire says it is now working with the hospital and Arriva to follow up from this research and ensure changes are made to benefit patients.

Claire Grainger, Chief Executive of Healthwatch Nottinghamshire said, "It is very important that patients have had the opportunity to have their say about this vital service. We are pleased that Arriva have taken the recommendations on board and we will be returning to the dialysis units in the near future to check whether patients are reporting improvements in their experience."

Asiya Jelani, Head of Communications and Engagement at Arriva Transport Solutions Ltd said, "We welcome this report and the valuable insight it provides into the experiences of renal patients and staff when using the patient transport service.

"We make over 5000 patient transport journeys across Nottinghamshire a month and so we fully understand the impact that transport can have on the lives and treatment of renal patients and a number of measures have already been put in place to address some of the concerns raised in this report.

"We have also invested in additional staff and vehicles. The report also highlights some of the improvements we have made and it is pleasing to see comments from patients about the excellent quality of care delivered by our staff. All the recommendations made in this report will be looked at in detail and we are committed to continuing to work closely with Healthwatch Nottinghamshire."

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