Petition to get Shrewsbury hospital bus stop re-instated after claims it cost Arriva £150,000 a year
A councillor has launched a campaign to reinstate bus stop at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
Bus firm Arriva scrapped pick ups and drop off at the treatment centre at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital earlier this year, with a boss saying it cost £150,000 a year to service the stop - a fee which "cannot be justified".
The outpatients stop is the only one where buses now pick up and drop patients off at the hospital.
Bowbrook councillor Alex Wagner said Arriva regional director Simon Mathieson's claim over the cost of the stop was "palpably ridiculous", and has now launched a campaign to have the stop serviced again.
Councillor Wagner said: “Access to NHS services in Shropshire can be difficult at the best of times. The decision by Arriva to get rid of the hospital treatment centre bus stop will make accessing vital healthcare even harder.
“The bus stop is used by around 250 patients a month, almost always for a specific purpose - accessing the care they need. One resident in Copthorne I was speaking to told me they are entirely reliant on the 11 stop as their husband is blind and they have no car.
"Real people in our town are being impacted here, and it is an easy fix for Arriva to step in and reinstate the stop."
Councillor Wagner added: “It is important to remember how this impacts rural Shropshire residents too. Those coming into Shrewsbury town centre by bus or train rely on the 11 to stop at the treatment centre. This is an issue for everyone who accesses services in Shrewsbury, not just people in our town.
“I have launched a petition in order to show Arriva how much people care about this, and how people are unwilling to see their access to NHS services reduced even further. Please sign it if you support our campaign and want to see this policy reversed.”
The petition reads: "We, the undersigned, call on Arriva to reinstate the bus stop at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital Treatment Centre on the 11 route."
It can be viewed and signed at wmlibdems.typeform.com/to/OXTn3RAW
