The latest Venari-developed specialist vehicle range on Ford chassis is set to enter the patient transport market (PTS) in the early spring, with 500 units booked into production at Venari Group’s subsidiary company, O&H Vehicle Technology.

The re-emergence of the Transit in the British ambulance market was rubber stamped with the launch of Ford-Venari’s ‘project siren’ in 2021. Operational units will be built and placed with the NHS in Q2 of 2022.

The Ford and Venari collaboration backed by TrustFord aims to introduce a new phase of high quality into the patient transport space with the O&H Vehicle Technology converted Transit PTS, said Venari.

Oliver North, chief executive officer at Venari Group, said: “Since taking over the O&H factory at the start of 2019, it has always been my goal to introduce a genuinely premium chassis into the patient transport (PTS) space.

“Now, with our next generation PTS vehicle, we can introduce a fundamentally superior vehicle to anything else available on the market, whilst raising countless bars in ergonomics, patient safety and operator efficiency. 

“Significantly though, our new Ford PTS is supplied and backed-up with incredible efficiency by what I consider to be the best chassis dealer in the UK - TrustFord.

“Once we then add into this, the most competitive financial and fleet management offering, supplied through Ford Fleet Management, it will allow patient transport fleets to run smoother and more efficiently than ever before, whilst providing unrivalled value for money.”

Mark Wilkie, fleet and commercial vehicle director at TrustFord, said: “TrustFord is delighted to play a key role in supporting the collaboration between Venari, Ford Motor Company and Ford Fleet Management.

“We are working to make a real impact in this field, both in vehicle supply and in our unique fleet aftersales proposition, geared to enhance fleet uptime through bespoke customer support and our class leading mobile servicing offer.

“Building on the hugely successful launch of Siren, we now have a comprehensive range of products across the ambulance and patient transport sector and have already secured significant orders from a very excited and receptive market.”

Ford Fleet Management’s James Hooker said: "Working collaboratively with the experts at Venari and TrustFord, we have developed a fit for purpose flexible funding and in-life management solution to match the premium vehicle created for the PTS market.”