Information from University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust
One of the main access roads to Royal Stoke University Hospital will be closed or limited access for five weeks from Monday 13 August 2018. The works will take place on the road between the Cancer Centre and the West Building directly off the A34. Measures are being put in place to manage traffic onsite, improve signage, relocate bus stops and divert patient transport. However, UHNM anticipates that there will be major disruption during the works. Hospital users should be aware that:
- Bus stop relocations – The public bus stops will relocate to outside A&E. Signage will be put in place advising staff and the public when bus stops are closed. Please speak to your bus driver if you are unsure where to alight. Pedestrian access to the hospital will be through the Children’s Centre entrance, which links to the main Atrium. Additional volunteers will be present in the Children’s Centre Atrium to direct the public around the hospital
- Cancer Centre access – The Cancer Centre car park will remain open during the works. The public should still use the north A34 entrance to access this car park. All other vehicles should use the A34 South entrance or Hilton Road.
- West Building access - During the works there will be no vehicle access to the entrance. All access to the West Building will be via the rear of the building. During the works parking attendants will be on hand to support vehicles. Part of the lower West Building car park will be closed to allow Ambulance access. The building will not be accessible from the A34 North entrance
- Hilton Road ‘Ambulance only’ entrance – During the first three weeks of the works this entrance will be used by buses and vehicles. All those using the entrance should take caution when doing so to make way for Emergency Ambulances.
- Other access areas onto the hospital – It is anticipated that the other hospital entrances will be incredibly busy. Hospital users should give themselves additional times for their journey. Staff may wish to choose to park at COPD car park or Royal Infirmary given the likely congestion.
- Parking on the link road – Some staff parking on the ring road will temporarily be suspended during the works due to the increase in traffic. Staff should park in one of the other Royal Stoke staff car parks or at Central Outpatients
- Staff shuttle bus – The staff shuttle bus will pick up and drop off from Main Entrance only. The ring road route will be temporarily suspended.
- Congestion – It is anticipated that Hilton Road and the hospital entrances will be severely congested. Additional attendants will be on site during the works to improve the flow of traffic on site.
Lorraine Whitehead, Director of Estates, Facilities and PFI, said: “These are essential works that need to take place this summer. We’ve scheduled the works to coincide with the school holidays when the hospital tends to be quieter than the rest of the year. A great deal of planning has been put into this project and we have put in place actions that should mitigate some of the challenges. However, we still anticipate major disruption and congestion, so staff, patients and visitors need to take this into account when visiting the hospital. I would like to thank everyone for their patience during the works.”
UHNM will give daily updates on social media and its website throughout the works to ensure as many people are aware of the disruption as possible.
ENDS