Hospital bus services

[Simon75]

Following the Cheshire bus news discussion on buses to Macclesfield General Hospital, are there many major hospitals with a poor bus service?

Both Stafford and Macclesfield have no Sunday service.

 

[SSmith2009]

Can't think of any with poor services.

Leicester hospitals have frequent buses running to/from the City Centre all 3 sites most running everyday.

We also have the fantastic Hospital Hopper which links all 3 sites and is operated everyday by Centrebus who are set to launch electric Yutong buses next month onto the UHL.

 

[Ken H]

Looking at old timetables there were many hospital services in the past.
West Yorkshire road car ran a Bradford - Grassington Sanatorium service 69 on Sundays. The hospital was built for TB patients in the clean dales air.
They also ran to High Royds from various places. Psychiatric hospital.
Leeds City Transport ran services to Coockridge and Ida Hospital. A cancer treatment centre
And to Meanwood, another psychiatric hospital.
Lastly to Killingbeck. Another TB Sanatorium, but later a centre for chest complaints and heart surgery incl transplants.

One can only think of the people catching these buses to see their desperately ill loved ones.

All the hospitals above are now closed.

 

[daodao]

Both Stafford and Macclesfield [Hospitals] have no Sunday service.

Leighton Hospital, Crewe no longer has a Sunday bus service too, nor does the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

The only Sunday bus service in Macclesfield is route 58 from Buxton, Crewe only has 2 Sunday bus services (route 84 to Chester and route 3 to Hanley) and Stafford only has 2 Sunday bus services (route 5E to Telford and route 101 to Hanley). Shrewsbury has no Sunday bus services, apart from National Express long distance coach service 409 from Aberystwyth to London. None of these routes pass near the hospitals in their respective towns, although route 101 from Stafford does pass the main regional Royal Stoke Hospital.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Looking at old timetables there were many hospital services in the past.
West Yorkshire road car ran a Bradford - Grassington Sanatorium service 69 on Sundays. The hospital was built for TB patients in the clean dales air.
They also ran to High Royds from various places. Psychiatric hospital.
Leeds City Transport ran services to Coockridge and Ida Hospital. A cancer treatment centre
And to Meanwood, another psychiatric hospital.
Lastly to Killingbeck. Another TB Sanatorium, but later a centre for chest complaints and heart surgery incl transplants.

One can only think of the people catching these buses to see their desperately ill loved ones.

All the hospitals above are now closed.

There were simply hundreds (literally) of similar services that existed to service these sorts of sanitoriums or county asylums across the UK. With advances in medical care and/or care in the community, they have largely been consigned to history.

Invariably, they were often on a weekend or evenings for visitors, not for employees.

Leighton Hospital, Crewe no longer has a Sunday bus service too.

The only Sunday bus service in Macclesfield is route 58 from Buxton, Crewe only has 2 Sunday bus services (route 84 to Chester and route 3 to Hanley) and Stafford only has 2 Sunday bus services (route 5E to Telford and route 101 to Hanley). None of these routes pass near the hospitals in their respective towns, although route 101 from Stafford does pass the main regional Royal Stoke Hospital.

It's difficult to serve hospitals - not so many visitors as you'd imagine and a fragmented and disparate set of work patterns for staff.

 

[robertclark125]

The Stratheden hospital, near Cupar, is served by route 64. Back in 80s and 90s, there were a couple of routes, which ran twice a week. The 25B, later operated by Rennies ran from Dunfermline, via Kirkcaldy. It later passed to Hamish Gordon of Leslie, but the route no longer operates. There was the 45, which ran from Leven and Glenrothes. Oddly, from 1991 to 1994 Moffat and Williamson competed with Stagecoach on the service, despite it running only twice a week. Stagecoach withdrew the 45 in 2000.

Another service was Sunday only 58a which served Ladybank and Stratheden but which ended in 1996.

 

[InOban]

There were simply hundreds (literally) of similar services that existed to service these sorts of sanitoriums or county asylums across the UK. With advances in medical care and/or care in the community, they have largely been consigned to history.

Invariably, they were often on a weekend or evenings for visitors, not for employees.

It's difficult to serve hospitals - not so many visitors as you'd imagine and a fragmented and disparate set of work patterns for staff.

What? The Edinburgh bus network is largely organised around 3 major destinations. Two are shopping /entertainment /work (Ocean Terminal and Gyle) but the third is Edinburgh Royal infirmary. Almost all services in the SE of the city terminate there or at least pass through it. Including two night services. It has its own bus station outside the front door. The city planners insisted on it.

 

[Ken H]

Airedale Hospital had the Keighley - Burnley bus going round its perimeter road. There is an infrequent minibus that does nearby villages that goes into the hospital. And the Keighley-Skipton bus passes on the main road outside but you need to be fit as its steep back up to the road.

 

[JRT]

Airedale Hospital had the Keighley - Burnley bus going round its perimeter road. There is an infrequent minibus that does nearby villages that goes into the hospital. And the Keighley-Skipton bus passes on the main road outside but you need to be fit as its steep back up to the road.

I wouldn't say it was poor as mentioned in the op.
Airedale Hospital has had an half-hourly daytime bus service from Keighley since deregulation — actual services have altered through the years but currently M4 (continues to Colne & Burnley), 903 (Silsden & Station), 62 (one journey, serves Addingham & Ilkley) also 78A (serves Cononley Station & Bradley)

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

What? The Edinburgh bus network is largely organised around 3 major destinations. Two are shopping /entertainment /work (Ocean Terminal and Gyle) but the third is Edinburgh Royal infirmary. Almost all services in the SE of the city terminate there or at least pass through it. Including two night services. It has its own bus station outside the front door. The city planners insisted on it.

What indeed... In Edinburgh, that may well be the case that it is a major destination, and you could say the same in Bristol with Southmead Hospital as a substantial traffic objective.

However, in relation to places like Crewe etc (which is what I was replying to), then it is definitely the reality that there isn't a critical mass of either staff or visitors.

 

[JRT]

Looking at old timetables there were many hospital services in the past.
West Yorkshire road car ran a Bradford - Grassington Sanatorium service 69 on Sundays. The hospital was built for TB patients in the clean dales air.
They also ran to High Royds from various places. Psychiatric hospital.
Leeds City Transport ran services to Coockridge and Ida Hospital. A cancer treatment centre
And to Meanwood, another psychiatric hospital.
Lastly to Killingbeck. Another TB Sanatorium, but later a centre for chest complaints and heart surgery incl transplants.

One can only think of the people catching these buses to see their desperately ill loved ones.

All the hospitals above are now closed.

Hospitals in the Bradford area with their own daily bus service (one a day based round visiting times) included:
(closed hospitals)
High Royds
Stoney Ridge
Woodlands ? the one between Apperley Bridge and Rawdon
Woodhall ? the one past Bradford Moor
Thornton View

(open hospitals — former routes)
Bradford Royal Infirmary (from Thornton, one evening trip)
BRI (one trip from Bingley & Cottingley — bizarrely the bus terminated around ½ mile from the hospital!)

 

[Bayum]

Leeds isn’t brilliant. Neither is Harrogate. Fine if you’re ambulant or in a wheelchair but a good five minute walk to Leeds General Infirmary up/down a steep hill and a ten minute walk from bus stop to door at St James’s, also in Leeds. Harrogate hospital is at least half a mile walk from bus stops.

 

[daodao]

What indeed... In Edinburgh, that may well be the case that it is a major destination, and you could say the same in Bristol with Southmead Hospital as a substantial traffic objective.

However, in relation to places like Crewe etc (which is what I was replying to), then it is definitely the reality that there isn't a critical mass of either staff or visitors.

Leighton Hospital is quite a large hospital with lots of patients, visitors and staff, although the reduction in face-to-face outpatient appointments since March 2020 due to Covid has reduced outpatient attendances. However, it is situated on the edge of Crewe and many people travelling to it come from other towns and villages in Cheshire. It is difficult to serve a disparate range of destinations with frequent bus services, and it is noticeable that bus services to it have declined significantly over the last 15 years; it has also been possible to provide extensive car parking. Very large inner city hospitals have an even larger number of people travelling to them, often from a smaller catchment area, and cannot provide sufficient on site car parking for all the staff/patients/visitors.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Leighton Hospital is quite a large hospital with lots of patients, visitors and staff, although the reduction in face-to-face outpatient appointments since March 2020 due to Covid has reduced outpatient attendances. However, it is situated on the edge of Crewe and many people travelling to it come from other towns and villages in Cheshire. It is difficult to serve a disparate range of destinations with frequent bus services, and it is noticeable that bus services to it have declined significantly over the last 15 years; it has also been possible to provide extensive car parking. Very large inner city hospitals have an even larger number of people travelling to them, often from a smaller catchment area, and cannot provide sufficient on site car parking for all the staff/patients/visitors.

I know - I've had an operation there when I used to live in Northwich!

There are undoubtedly hospitals, as in Edinburgh or Bristol, that do lend themselves to being well served by bus by dint of their location, and arguably, some hospitals have promoted car parking as a revenue stream. Equally, location works against other places and Crewe is one of those. I can think of a number of hospitals where it really isn't simple to serve them though some firms do a better job than others.

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

Slightly different but the QEUH (queen Elizabeth university hospital) Glasgow served the southside of the city but most of its bus connections are for the north , east and west with very few links to the south side