Access

“You're fretting because you know that you need to get to the hospital, when the child is ill it's a care issue and you want to get the care as quickly as possible”

- Donal Walsh’s Dad

Sick children travelling to hospital do not need additional delays. Parents do not need the added stress of traffic congestion and narrow, complicated city roads.

Approximately 75% of children with serious illness live outside the M50. They may already have travelled several hours just to get to the M50. Additional time spent in city centre traffic is an unfair disadvantage to these families.

According to research, 90% of sick children travel to hospital by car. It is impractical and sometimes risky to travel on public transport with a sick child for many reasons:

• Risk of infection
• Child is in pain, at risk of fainting or getting sick
• Need to carry bulky equipment and bags
• Other siblings may need to be brought also
• Family does not live close to public transport system
• It is out of hours
• Public transport system perceived to be unsafe

It is simply unfair to ask sick children and their parents to travel by public transport.