Mobility management at Lancashire teaching hospitals

Location

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is located across three sites: The Royal Preston Hospital, the Chorley & South Ribble District General Hospital and the Neuro-Rehabilitation Unit located adjacent to the Preston Business Centre.

The Royal Preston Hospital is on the edge of Preston, 3 miles (5km) from the city centre, and the Neuro-Rehabilitation Unit is 1.5km south of the site. Chorley & South Ribble District General Hospital is approximately 1 mile (1.5km) from the centre of Chorley, and 14 miles from the Royal Preston Hospital. The Trust provides general health care for a population of 390,000 people in a mix of urban and surrounding rural areas.

The Trust is also a specialist care centre for cancer, renal treatment and a number of other specialist treatments and therefore, patients travel from a wide area across Lancashire and South Cumbria covering a population of 1.5 million.

Accessibility profile

Accessibility by different transport modes to Royal Preston Hospital: 

• Distance to mainline train station 5km, IC train connection to Wigan, Crewe, London, Glasgow;
• Buses: Four services in all. One service stopping within hospital grounds (link to city centre), three other services stopping outside the hospital grounds, including the orbit route linking with residential areas of Preston;
• Cycle parking and bins for employees (part of OPTIMUM² measures); 
• Distance to highway 1 mile (1.5 km);
• Parking spaces for Staff: 1091. Parking spaces for patients and visitors: 544; 1635 spaces in total. 

Accessibility by different transport modes to Chorley Hospital: 

• Distance to mainline train station, 1 mile 1.5km. Regional train connections to Manchester, Blackpool, Buxton and Barrow-in-Furness;
• Buses – 9 services stopping in or near the hospital grounds. Bus interchange 1 mile (1.5km) away;
• Parking spaces for Staff: 711. Parking spaces for patients and visitors: 302. 1013 spaces in total.

Mobility profile

Number of travellers
Royal Preston and Chorley combined besides staff (5000 full time equivalents):  

Origin of travellers (journey time)
The majority of patients and visitors (67%) live within 30 minute radius of the hospital (Royal Preston Hospital October 2005).

The majority of staff at Chorley Hospital (64%) live within 1-10 miles of the hospital (Chorley & South Ribble Hospital 2002).

Modal split patients and visitors Royal Preston Hospital

Car (Driver) 58%
Car (Passenger) 25%
Bus 7%
Walk 2%
Cycle 0%
Taxi 6%
Other (Hospital Car Scheme) 2%

Source: Survey October 2005

There has been a steady increase in the number of cycles counted on the RPH site (31 in July 2006; 41 in April 2007)

Institutional context

Both Preston and Chorley are within the boundaries of Lancashire County Council. The County Council is in overall charge of transport policy and is responsible for regulating the bus services. Preston City Council and Chorley Borough Council are the local planning authorities.

The bus services are delivered by private operators. In Preston, the main operators are: Preston Bus, and Stagecoach. In Chorley: Stagecoach. However, there are "quality partnerships" in place for certain routes (including the recently introduced Orbital Route) and the County Council helps provide the real time information system

There are no formal restrictions imposed by Lancashire County Council on the number of car parking spaces, but each time a new unit or building is planned, the Trust has to apply for permission for extra spaces. This was for example the case when a number of departments (see above) relocated from Sharoe Green to the main Royal Preston Hospital site.
In reality, the physical restrictions on space act impose a greater pressure to manage the parking spaces. The situation is less pressured at Chorley.

Lancashire County Council has been leading the project. Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a key partner. Both are also working with the new Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust (replacing 3 smaller PCTs), which is responsible for purchasing services for patients.

Motivations for mobility management

Mobility management is key as both hospitals have limited parking spaces which in some cases are decreasing due to new buildings on the site. In addition, new policies within the NHS (such as "Choose & Book) mean that the hospitals must be seen to be accessible to patients from a very wide area, although this might be more of a trend in the future.
The patients and visitors survey (2005) highlighted how only a minority knew where to look for information on alternatives to the car (45%).

Buses and other public transport improvements

• Buses routed into hospital grounds (RPH and Chorley);
• New Preston Orbit bus route (launched in October 2006). This passes through the hospital and links the hospital with the city centre, and also parts of the city centre where before, passengers would have had to take one bus to the city centre and another out to the RPH site;
• Discounted bus tickets for staff (RPH and Chorley):

 

• Shuttle bus for staff between RPH and Chorley hospitals; 
• Introduction of shuttle service for patients and visitors (linked to staff shuttle above); 
• Real time information display board installed at Royal Preston Hospital; 
• Park and Ride facility set up at nearby rugby ground for staff (operational from 0730 to 0930 and from 1620 –1820). The site is 1.5 miles (2 km) from the hospital. A vehicle can also be accessed throughout the day when requested by staff, to transport them to and from the park and ride facility which consists of 200 spaces; 
• In the Autumn of 2007 the Trust introduced a second park and ride facility for staff consisting of 300 spaces located at Preston Business Centre which is 1 mile (1.5km) from Royal Preston Hospital. Staff use the local bus service as a shuttle to and from the site free of charge and pay a discounted rate to park on the Preston Business Centre site. The Trust negotiated a special rate for the initiative with the bus operator; 
• All staff are asked to use either one of the park and ride facilities with the exception of regular car users, as defined by the Trust and staff who work a three shift rota system.

The new bus route and Park and Ride are not formally part of OPTIMUM², but are part of the package of measures being marketed by the Travel2Health site and within the hospitals.

Promoting cycling

• Improvements to cycle storage area;
• Cycle bins have been provided around the hospital sites for use by staff (RPH and Chorley); 
• Cycle maps and publicity leaflet for both sites have been produced;  
• Approval has been given to the introduction of a loan scheme for staff cycles (RPH and Chorley);  
• Pool bike scheme introduced (as part of Lancashire County Council scheme); 
• Staff Cycle Group set up (Bike User Group); 
• Bike Maintenance available on site for individual staff bikes and pool bikes; 
• Bike to Work promotional days regularly arranged;
• Cycle mileage rate increased from 6.2p a mile to 18p a mile for those who cycle for work reasons (RPH and Chorley). 

Parking management

Staff car park permits are allocated based on criteria. Each application is assessed and dependent upon a number a factors the member of staff could be refused a permit to park on the Trust site and use of either of the park and ride facilities and would be issued with a travel plan showing the shortest route by public transport. If they meet the criteria to use the park and ride facility, they are advised accordingly. The only exemptions for not using the park and ride facility are that the member of staff is a regular car user, defined by the Trust, or works a rotating shift pattern.

It is also planned to install variable message signage to the entrances of the hospital sites, advising of the location of the car parks and the available spaces. This information is also repeated at each barrier entrance. 

Staff car parking charges were increased on 1st April 2007 to £100 for non-reserved, with a pro-rata rate based on contracted hours worked. Staff reserved permits were also increased to £200 per year. Patients and visitors remain at £1.50 for 24 hours.

Income for parking charges for period April 2006 – March 2007 (RPH)
Staff: £225,684
Patients and Visitors: £605,075

Income for parking charges for period April 2006 – March 2007 (Chorley)
Staff: £83,765
Patients and Visitors £364,402

See the Hospital Car Park Management Comparison Table for more details.

Combining solutions 

The Lancashire OPTIMUM² Travel Management System (Travel2Health.co.uk) is a website/portal, with links to the elements below. It aims to acts as a one stop shop for all transport services available to and from any healthcare premises. Piloted for RPH and Chorley, the site will now be integrated into the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust website, offering:

• Personal journey planning; 
• Site specific mutli-modal transport information; 
• Car Share System; 
• Community Transport Schemes; 
• Real Time Bus service Information; 
• Information Kiosks (in hospital main reception areas); 
• Links with North West Traveline Call Centre (regional travel information service). 

The website was marketed directly to staff, patients and visitors, as well as to professionals to enable them to access travel information at the time of booking appointments for patients.

It is planned to examine the new initiative, the NHS has introduced, i.e. "Assess, Treat and Care (A.T.C.)" patient pathway process and "map" those points at which travel information can be provided.

There is also now a national NHS site aimed at patients, helping them to make choices between hospitals (and other health services), which includes links to travel websites . See http://www.nhs.uk/servicedirectories/Pages/ServiceSearch.aspx

Mobility management process

The project is managed day-to-day by the Lancashire Transport Marketing team (Gareth Cooper, Jackie Brindle (Travel2Heatth), Jane Heath (marketing) and Howard Jackson and Carole McKay at the Facilities and Services Directorate of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The steering group (OSG) member are :

 

• Lancashire County Council’s OPTIMUM² Steering Group Member (Chair); 
• Chair of the Lancashire Project Group; 
• Executive member for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trus';
• Executive member of Lancashire Ambulance Service; 
• Executive member for Central Lancashire PCT; 
• Executive member for LCES Travelcare; 
• LPG Project manager (Secretary). 

The OSG meets at least once a year and is responsible for the strategic direction of the project.

There is also a group of 38 "Watching Partners" drawn from NHS Trusts across North West England, local authorities, public transport providers, universities and voluntary organisations. These are invited to provide feedback on the plans and progress at stages throughout the project. They are contacted via email, plus attend an annual seminar via the North West NHS Travel Forum.

The OPTIMUM² project has synergies with a number of other projects:

 

• Transport Direct and eBygov – national journey planning website used to generate individual journey plans.. The Lancashire data has been enabled under the EU funded eBygov project.  
• SharedWheels.co.uk – Car share system provided by Liftshare.com and funded by Lancashire County Council. A private group access will be set up for the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals. 
• Web based timetables – there are plans to make all Lancashire bus timetables available on the web for download. 
• CIVITAS – EU project supporting a number of mobility management measures in Preston e.g. personal journey planning. 
• Preston Orbit – new bus route around the outskirts of Preston and linking to the RPH, operated by Preston Bus and supported by Lancashire County Council (using funding from DfT Urban Bus Challenge and priority measures funded under CIVITAS . Launched in October 2006. Has been promoted as part of the travel2health marketing strategy (see below). 
• Bike Aid: Lancashire County Council scheme to promote cycling has helped find cycle bins. 

Marketing and communication

The Lancashire OPTIMUM² Travel Management System (Travel2Health.co.uk) is marketed to first time appointments to RPH and Chorley Hospital, but also more generally to all those travelling to the hospitals. To read the marketing and communication strategy for Travel2Health.co.uk, click here.

This involves a number of promotional materials: Leaflets, credit card with web address and helpline number, posters, display panels in reception areas of the two hospitals, pens etc.

These will be given out to doctors surgeries and staff / visitors to the hospital. A press release to the two main local newspapers was issued and articles printed in the internal Lancashire County Council and Trust magazines.

Individual staff travel plans provided on request and provided automatically to staff who have been refused a car parking permit. The Travel Plan Staff use Transport Direct to generate the plans(www.transportdirect.info).

Contact

Would you like to know more about Mobility Management at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals?

Please contact: Howard Jackson (howard.jackson@lthtr.nhs.uk) or Jackie Brindle (jackie.brindle@env.lancscc.gov.uk)

Cookbook home

Optimum² home