New park & ride available for visitors and staff to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital

The Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs the county’s two acute hospitals, is working with Shropshire Council and Arriva to provide the service for a trial between 10am and 3pm, Monday to Friday, from Monday 27 January 2025 until further notice.

The bus service, which is currently available for staff, runs every 20 minutes from the car park at the Oxon Park & Ride site to the Treatment Centre, the new main entrance of the hospital. 

There is also a walking route from Oxon Park & Ride to the hospital which takes approximately 20 minutes. The service will be free to patients and visitors during the trial period.

Paula Gardner, Interim Chief Nursing Officer, said: “We have listened to our patient and colleague feedback about parking on site. We have been encouraging our staff to use the Park & Ride to free up spaces for our patients, but we know that patients have expressed an interest in using the service too.

“We will be using the data from this trial to see if this is a viable option and to work towards providing the best patient experience possible.”

Ian Nellins, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for public transport, said: “For the past year we’ve been working with SaTH and Arriva to provide a staff shuttle from the Oxon Park & Ride to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

"I’m delighted that from Monday 27 January a free trial service will also be available for patients and visitors to use, and I hope people will make good use of this service.”

Customers are asked to keep their return ticket with them to be able to return to the Oxon P&R site. Staff must present a valid staff ID badge to board the shuttle bus.

There is no service currently on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays. 

Patients and visitors who would like to use the service can find more information and a timetable on the Trust’s website at www.sath.nhs.uk/patients-visitors/getting-to-us/royal-shrewsbury-hospital