In this week’s column, I want to give an update on my campaign to secure a direct bus service from Woking to Ashford Hospital.

Many readers will know that I have campaigned for this important initiative for some time now and I continue to have extensive talks with the Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals Trust and with Surrey County Council to try to secure this service.  

Good access to excellent local healthcare for Woking residents has been a top priority for me since I was first elected in 2010, and I have long worked closely with Woking Community Hospital to enhance its vital services.

Indeed, I opened the terrific Bedser Hub in 2016 – a service that continues to go from strength to strength in its health advice and support to many of our older residents.

However, as many readers know, since the pandemic, outpatient appointments have increasingly been scheduled at Ashford Hospital as opposed to St Peter’s – well over an hour’s journey away from many parts of Woking by public transport.  

Many hundreds of residents have shared their views with me about this and have signed the petition in support of my campaign for there to be a bus service direct from Woking to Ashford Hospital.

It has never been so important to improve the public transport network to our main local hospitals. Taxis to Ashford Hospital can be as expensive as £30 each way – so just one hospital appointment can cost upwards of £60 in travel expense. For many, this cost is simply not affordable.

On the plus side, many readers will know that I have also recently helped to secure a new state-of-the-art diagnostic centre at Woking Community Hospital, which, when opened next year, will save residents more than 30,000 trips a year to Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals for a range of diagnostic tests, including CT, MRI, bone density, ultrasound and audiology.

Indeed, I managed to double the amount of government funding for this diagnostic facility so that it can fulfil its full potential. This new centre will reduce waiting times and help speed up treatment, and, of course, these new services and additional rooms and equipment will secure our community hospital’s future as a vibrant and modern health centre for decades to come. 

But whilst this new hub is fantastic news for Woking and for local residents, we still need to ensure that we have a decent and affordable public transport service from Woking to Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals for those health visits that can’t be undertaken at our terrific community hospital.

This is why I continue to campaign and lobby so hard to try to secure a direct bus service from Woking to Ashford Hospital and I will be sure to keep local residents updated on further progress with regard to my campaign.