WITH regards to the recent letter concerning a bus service directly to the Churchill and Nuffield Hospitals.

My wife and I have been trying for many years to get a bus service from Abingdon that would call at the Redbridge park and ride en route to these hospitals. We are convinced that this service would be used by many people.

Oxford Mail: The Churchill Hospital

The Churchill hospital

At a meeting of the Oxford University Hospitals Trust at the end of last year we raised this issue and at the end of the meeting spoke to Mr Mark Trumper, the executive director of transport at the hospitals. He agreed that parking was very difficult at times and that he had tried to get more services directly into the hospital grounds on numerous times without success.

I personally have had treatment for bladder cancer since 1995 and it is becoming more and more difficult to park at the hospital. The car park recently at the Churchill Hospital had a queue waiting with 12 cars outside and numerous others parked on the surrounding grass verges. It means that patients are often late for appointments or treatment. This causes considerable stress at times which is not what one wants.

I personally now let my son drive me to the hospital and if there is a queue I get out of the car to keep my appointment on time. Obviously this is not possible for everyone.

In the recent reply by the bus company it was stated that it was a short walk at present to the hospital area. I would suggest that they get off their backsides and try walking into the hospital and back in all winds and weathers when one is feeling unwell. It is quite a long walk from the bus stop outside and into the hospital and then along the various corridors and at the age of 77 years not possible.

If a bus service was provided it would obviously have a knock-on effect of reducing the number of cars being driven into the hospital car park. I find it difficult to understand, as there is a bus service every 20 minutes or so from Kidlington area directly to the Nuffield and Churchill Hospitals. Why do this to the exclusion of other areas? I am utterly convinced that a service provided like the one suggested would be in everybody’s interest.

RW TAYLOR

Ashgate

Abingdon