Hospital bus trips poorly timetabled claim

PATIENTS travelling from Redditch to Worcestershire Royal Hospital by bus are having to leave up to four hours early because of poor bus timetabling.

One Woodrow woman, who did not want to be named, told the Standard she was having to spend the whole day in Worcester when sent for an appointment with a specialist at the city's hospital.

On one occasion she had to catch the bus at 10.20am for a 2pm appointment and then wait for over an hour to catch a 3.30pm bus back to Redditch.

She said: "I am forced to go into Worcester, spend my time walking around and then get another connection into the hospital then after the appointment I am waiting at the bus stop for so long. It is absolutely ridiculous and is taking all day to do something you could be in and out for.

"Because I am counted as disabled I get help with my travel costs but they will not fund taxis so I can only use public transport. The only other option would be to go through Bromsgrove and that service has been totally changed so it would involve getting three buses each way.

"It is beyond a joke as I can be sent to any hospital and it must affect a lot of people wanting to get to the hospital or places like colleges.

"It is like living in a giant prison where you are trapped in Redditch by the bus service."

Andy Baker, sustainable transport manager for Worcestershire County Council, said the 350 service had not been changed since September last year when it remained four buses from Redditch to the hospital per day, with three return journeys.

"While the changes did not represent a significant change to the level of service provided by the route, we do appreciate passengers would like a more frequent service and this request will of course be continuously considered in future reviews of transports services if further funding opportunities arise."

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