Transport issues affecting healthcare appointments in Rotherham
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Healthwatch Rotherham undertook a short project on transport issues affecting healthcare appointments in Rotherham. They undertook a survey to which 23 people responded. They also carried out face to face research with a further 12 people.
The report highlighted that the public transport system is failing to provide a reliable and frequent enough service to all areas of Rotherham. This leaves those with no alternative method of transport, having to allocate large amounts of their day to get to and from their appointments. A link was also found between higher poverty levels and non attendance at hospital appointments.
Parking at Rotherham hospital was also highlighted as a problem for many, causing extra stress around appointments.
The research also looks at the bus services to the local hospital and where the people live who didn't attend their healthcare appointment lives. There wasn't a correlation between non-attendance and poor public transport servcies but there might be with deprivation and ethnicity.
The report has five recommendations about travel to hospital appointments