Councillor joins fight for new bus route to hospital (From Times Series)

Barnet Borough Council's councillor Dan Thomas joins fight for new bus route to Finchley Memorial Hospital

4:39pm Monday 15th October 2012 in News By Emma Innes

Councillor Dan Thomas has offered to help lobby TfL

A Barnet Borough Council councillor has offered to help Finchley Memorial Hospital lobby for a new bus route.

Councillor Dan Thomas, councillor for Finchley Church End, has said that he will help NHS North Central London in their bid to persuade Transport for London to reroute their buses.

Following a number of complaints from patients, the new hospital, in Granville Road, is liaising with TfL to try and organise a bus route which would drop patients closer to the hospital.

Cllr Thomas said: “We will do what we can to lobby TfL for an appropriately placed bus stop.

“I will happily try to lobby them to move a stop but I am aware that some of the roads surrounding the hospital are very narrow which will make it difficult.”

In a statement NHS North Central London said: “We are aware of feedback regarding the distance of parking and transport access to the main entrance of Finchley Memorial Hospital.

“The local NHS has previously liaised with TfL regarding the provision of a bus directly into the main hospital.

“A bus turning circle has been incorporated to accommodate this and discussions with TfL are on-going.”

These comments from the hospital come after the Times Series ran a story about a disabled pensioner speaking out about the “ridiculous” distance patients have to walk to reach the hospital.

Sybil Field, 77, has visited the new hospital four times and on each occasion says she saw people “hopping” into the walk-in centre.

Ms Field, of North Finchley, believes that the distance people have to walk from their cars to the hospital entrance is unreasonable.

She also claimed that for elderly and disabled people getting a bus to the hospital is virtually impossible as there is such a long walk from the road to the hospital entrance.

Ms Field said: “A lot of people came in hopping when I was there. They just couldn’t walk that far.

“It is not reasonable to expect people to walk that far.

“I think it is ridiculous – at the old hospital you could park right outside.”

She added: “I don’t know what they can do about it now but what will happen when it is icy? It will be lethal.

“Something needs to be done. Somebody needs to be there to take people back and forwards.

“I felt very sorry for the people coming in while I was waiting – not everybody is young.”

The £28 million hospital has been purpose built to replace the old Finchley Memorial Hospital which is on the same site.

The new hospital has a walk-in centre, two GP practices, an out patients department, a rehabilitation department, diagnostics and an infusion suite for 12 people.

It also boasts indoor and outdoor gyms, a health information library, a multi-faith room and 54 private, en suite bedrooms for in patients.