Sustainable Travel

As part of the move to the new surgery the PPG is keen to encourage staff and patients to use sustainable means of travelling to the surgery wherever possible. i.e.walking, cycling, bus, or car sharing.

A good percentage of patients ( 28% ) already walk to the surgery and a further 5% use cycles. Obviously those patients who are elderly, ill or infirm will always need to come by car or taxi. We also know that in some cases  it is necessary for fit patients to bring a car when they need to go back into town to drop off their prescriptions and pick up their medication, but we hope that once the new pharmacy opens in the building this number will reduce.

Our PPG's newsletter about sustainable travel is here and our leaflet is here.

17% of our staff walk or cycle to work and we hoped to increase this percentage through the NHS Go For It Challenge Campaign which many of the surgery's staff joined. Staff working in hospitals, doctors and dentist surgeries, CCG headquarters and in the community  competed in work teams to see who could undertake the most sport and activity each month. 

As part of the overall sustainable travel initiative the PPG has made available bus and  train timetables and cycle route leaflets, all of which can be found on the travel notice board in the entrance foyer.

Since the move to the new building, the number of patients using the bus has declined. However this appears to be related to the fact that the nearest bus stop is now some way away.  We have written to the bus company asking them to consider adding a new bus stop outside of the surgery which would make it a lot easier for patients to access the surgery by bus in the future. The PPG is actively campaigning for this to happen.

For further information and advice about sustainable travel and work travel plans, visit Moving Forward’s travel plan site.