30/10/2026
The Hospital Hopper service continues to make a significant difference to patients, visitors and carers across north east Essex. Following its expansion earlier in the year thanks to your donations, what does this difference look like?
Delivered by Tendring Community Transport (TCT) in partnership with East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s (ESNEFT) Health Inequalities Team, the service provides an essential transport link for people travelling to hospital appointments, accessing other healthcare services and visiting loved ones.
The start of July through to 30 September 2026 highlighted the continued success of this service, providing 2,948 journeys. Of these, 1,625 journeys were for hospital appointments, 1,065 were for other healthcare appointments and 258 were for hospital visiting. The number of registered Hospital Hopper users has also continued to grow, reaching 7,827 people.
For many people, getting to and from hospital can be a significant challenge, particularly for those without access to private transport or who face financial or mobility barriers. The Hospital Hopper helps remove these obstacles, making it easier for people to attend appointments, access vital healthcare and spend precious time with loved ones.
One family shared their thanks after relying on the Hospital Hopper to visit a loved one in hospital, saying: “We would like to express our gratitude for the Hospital Hopper service; we just would not have managed to get our dad to hospital to allow him time to spend visiting our mum in her final weeks. This is such an amazing service, and all staff were so helpful and the drivers are great.”
Another service user described the service as a “brilliant community lifeline” that makes travelling to appointments easier and less stressful. They added: “The Hospital Hopper is a friendly, reliable service that really makes getting to appointments easy. The drivers are welcoming, helpful and always make every journey feel relaxed and stress free.”
The continued increase in journeys and registrations demonstrates the growing need for accessible community transport. Since the service was extended, Tendring Community Transport has seen a rise in enquiries and requests for Hospital Hopper journeys, placing additional pressure on its scheduling team. To help meet this demand and maintain the quality of the service, TCT is now recruiting an additional scheduler to support the team and manage the increased volume of requests.
By helping more people reach hospital appointments and visit loved ones, the service plays an important role in reducing health inequalities and ensuring that access to healthcare is not limited by transport difficulties.
To access the service, visit: dial-a-ride.org/colchester-hospital-hopper/
