20 August 2013
Islanders who have hospital appointments during the bus strike have been urged to plan their travel to ensure that they arrive at the scheduled time.
The Health and Social Services Department intends to maintain business as usual at Jersey’s hospitals during the forthcoming bus strike, and wants patients to ensure that they keep their appointments.
Managing Director Helen O’Shea said she anticipated that hospital staff would make alternative arrangements in order to get to work on strike days, and that she hoped patients would do the same.
“While there is the potential for disruption to normal service, we are hoping this can be minimised through advance planning,” said Mrs O’Shea. “This is the message we are sending both to staff and patients.”
The Hospital’s suggested measures for those who may be affected are:
- consider whether your journey from home to St Helier could realistically be made by bicycle, on foot or by organising a lift with a neighbour, friend or family member
- take advantage of the free parking that will be available on strike days in bays 1-5 of Victoria Avenue (West Park to First Tower) and at Pier Road
- study the restricted timetable that will be published by LibertyBus on Wednesday 21 August in order to identify buses that will be running
- allow extra time to reflect the fact that your journey may be unfamiliar, and that traffic levels may be higher than might otherwise be expected
“We realise that there may be some people who are genuinely unable to attend their appointments because there is no bus for them to catch, and therefore believe their only option is to cancel the appointment; we would urge them please to telephone us using the number on their appointment letter.
“Although there may be disruption to transport we are hoping that the vast majority of our patients should be able to reach us.” added Mrs O’Shea.
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