GETTING TO BOURNEMOUTH HOSPITAL BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT

As a result of a comment made at an Executive meeting earlier in the year about the difficulties experienced by a resident in get to Bournemouth Hospital by bus, I wrote the following letter to Dorset NHS Trust with a copy to the bus company and the following were their replies:

Dear Sir,

I have received a number of complaints from residents of Broadstone about the difficulty that they have in getting to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital by Public Transport. Apparently there is only one bus service which goes to the hospital, that is the X33, which provides only 5 journeys per day. Add to this difficulty the need to take a bus from Broadstone to Poole Bus Station and the total journey has become a costly and time-consuming marathon, particularly for the elderly. I should add that there are several bus services, which pass the Cooper Dean roundabout, but if you are elderly or incapacitated it is a long walk to the hospital.

The situation with regard to transport to the hospital has become more of a problem, since the closure of the Royal Victoria Eye Hospital in Westbourne. Patients young or old with an eye problem (Impaired vision) are generally obliged to use Public Transport.

I know this problem rests with the bus operators and I have copied them this letter. However, if you could put pressure on the bus operators, it might help to obtain a better, more convenient and user friendly service.

Reply from Wilts & Dorset Bus Company

Buses on Wilts & Dorset service X33 together with some journeys on services 727 and 723, plus some peak period buses on service 765, all serve the Royal Bournemouth Hospital at Deansleigh Road. In addition service X3 stops at the Cooper Dean, and provides an hourly bus from Poole and Bournemouth during the daytime on weekdays. As far as the Eye Unit is concerned, travelling on the X3 to and from the Cooper Dean is a very realistic option; this bus stop is in fact closer to the Unit than the bus stop near the Main Hospital Entrance in Deansleigh Road. This is borne out in practice; I know of a gentleman in his 70s, a non-driver, who regularly attends the Glaucoma Sufferers Group at the Eye Unit; he chooses to catch the bus to the Cooper Dean rather than Deansleigh Road, saying that after getting off the bus this cuts his walking distance by about one-third.

It is also my understanding that the Hospital itself acknowledges that the location of its site may cause difficulties for some users, and! believe there is a possibility of a "people mover" system being established within the site.

I would imagine many people who are regular public transport users will have one of our bargain travel tickets such as a Freedom Ticket which will mitigate the cash penalty of having to change buses.
Timetables and details of our bargain travel tickets are freely available, and our Travel Enquiry Staff are always pleased to help intending passengers plan their journeys if they are in any difficulty.

The Dorset NHS Trust reply was to suggest that I wrote to the Poole Primary Care Trust

I have yet to receive a reply from that source.

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