FAQ
Answers to common questions about private ambulances, secure transport and the Mental Health Act
A private ambulance is an ambulance and crew booked directly by a family, a care provider or a healthcare organisation, rather than sent by the NHS 999 service. Private ambulances are used for planned journeys such as hospital discharges, transfers between hospitals or care homes, outpatient appointments and longer distance moves.
Secure 24 provides private ambulance services with crews trained for patients with mental health needs, complex needs or challenging behaviour. Read our full guide: What Is a Private Ambulance?
Call our control room on 0330 320 1159 or email info@secure24.org.uk. We take bookings 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for both planned and urgent journeys. Our team carries out a risk assessment over the phone, then matches the right vehicle, crew size and equipment to the patient. Families, care homes, NHS trusts, local authorities and private hospitals can all book with us through our contact page.
In a life-threatening emergency, always call 999. A private ambulance is not a replacement for the NHS emergency service.
The cost depends on the distance, the length of the journey, the number of crew needed and the type of vehicle the risk assessment calls for. Every journey is quoted individually and the price is all-inclusive, with no hidden charges. We only add extra crew or services when the risk genuinely requires it.
For a quote, contact us with the pick-up point, the destination and the needs of the patient.
Secure 24 provides secure and mental health patient transport across the UK, with our strongest presence in East Surrey, West Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Find out more about our private ambulance services in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. For journeys anywhere else in the UK, call us to check availability.
Unlike a standard ambulance, a secure ambulance is a specialist vehicle for transporting patients who may be a risk to themselves or others, usually because of a mental health crisis. Secure 24 vehicles have reinforced interiors, secure locking, padded seating, climate control, CCTV with audio and live GPS tracking.
Our Cell Secure Ambulance uses a screened safe space, so a patient can travel contained but visible and able to talk to the crew, instead of being restrained for the whole journey. See our secure ambulance service.
A mental health ambulance is an ambulance staffed and equipped for people in a mental health crisis, rather than for physical injury or illness. The crew focus on de-escalation, safety and dignity, and the vehicle is designed to keep the patient calm and safe.
Secure 24 provides mental health transport for NHS trusts, the police, local authorities and families, including for patients detained under the Mental Health Act. Learn more about how mental health ambulances work.
Being sectioned means being kept in hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983, even if you do not agree to it, so that your mental health can be assessed or treated. It only happens when professionals decide you need care in hospital for your own safety or the safety of other people.
Section 2 allows a person to be detained for assessment, and Section 3 allows a person to be detained for treatment. This applies in England and Wales. Secure 24 often provides the safe transport to hospital once someone has been sectioned.
You cannot section someone yourself. The decision is made after a Mental Health Act assessment carried out by an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) and two doctors.
If you are worried about someone, contact their GP, their mental health team, or NHS 111 and choose the mental health option. The nearest relative can also ask the local council AMHP service to consider an assessment. If someone is in immediate danger, call 999. You can also call Samaritans free on 116 123 at any time.
It depends on the section used. Under Section 2 a person can be detained for assessment for up to 28 days. Under Section 3 they can be detained for treatment for up to 6 months, which can be renewed for a further 6 months and then for up to 12 months at a time.
Under Section 136 the police can keep someone at a place of safety for up to 24 hours, which a doctor can extend by up to 12 hours. A person can be discharged sooner if they no longer need to be detained.
Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 allows the police to take a person who appears to be in a mental health crisis from a public place to a place of safety, such as a health-based place of safety, so they can be assessed. It cannot be used inside a private home.
Secure 24 supports police forces with Section 136 conveyance, taking over from officers as soon as the scene is safe so they can return to duty. See our Section 135 and 136 transport service.
Section 135 is used when a person is in a private place, such as their home. An AMHP applies to a magistrate for a warrant that allows the police to enter and take the person to a place of safety. Section 136 is used when the person is anywhere other than a private home, and the police can act without a warrant.
Both allow the person to be held so they can be assessed, and Secure 24 provides the transport in both cases. Read how we support patients under Sections 135 and 136.
An AMHP is an Approved Mental Health Professional. AMHPs are social workers, nurses, occupational therapists or psychologists who have completed extra training and are approved by the local council to carry out Mental Health Act assessments.
The AMHP coordinates the assessment, speaks to the nearest relative and decides whether to apply for the person to be detained in hospital. AMHP teams, including in East Surrey and West Sussex, book Secure 24 to transport patients safely once that decision has been made.
CAMHS stands for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, the NHS services that assess and treat young people under 18 with mental health difficulties.
Secure 24 transports children and young people for CAMHS teams, NHS trusts and local authority services for children. Our crews hold enhanced DBS checks for work with children and follow a separate child safeguarding policy. Read our guide: What Is CAMHS?
Non-emergency patient transport, often shortened to NEPT, takes patients to and from planned hospital appointments, admissions, discharges and transfers when a medical or mental health condition means they cannot travel safely another way.
Secure 24 provides NEPT with wheelchair accessible vehicles and door to door support, and our crews are trained for patients with mental health or complex needs as well as physical ones.
Ward assist, also called bed watch, is when trained Secure 24 staff stay with a patient on a hospital ward, in an emergency department or in a secure unit, to keep the patient and the people around them safe.
Our staff use active engagement, such as conversation, games and music, rather than observation alone. This helps prevent incidents and frees up nursing staff. We provide ward assist for short or long periods.
