PATIENTS at Hinchingbrooke Hospital could soon get a bus to and from the treatment centre at the heart of the complex. Bus operator Stagecoach wants to run services from Huntingdon and St Neots into the hospital grounds, instead of picking up and setting

PATIENTS at Hinchingbrooke Hospital could soon get a bus to and from the treatment centre at the heart of the complex.

Bus operator Stagecoach wants to run services from Huntingdon and St Neots into the hospital grounds, instead of picking up and setting down on Hinchingbrooke Park Road.

If a trial works, real-time information screens could also be installed in the hospital, Huntingdonshire District Council's transportation team leader Stuart Bell told The Hunts Post.

"We are hoping to get hospital services in by Christmas, and we are hoping we can get real-time information displays not just into the hospital but into the railway station and Huntingdon and St Ives bus stations."

Mr Bell is also working on alternative plans to enclose and double the size of the much-criticised bus shelter in Hinchingbrooke Park Road.

Stagecoach managing director Andy Campbell plans a trial run into the hospital complex to test whether the turning circle outside the treatment centre is large enough for the vehicle to manoeuvre satisfactorily.

"We had a [recent] meeting where we said we would consider going into the hospital grounds, provided we got unrestricted access and an improved road surface," he said. "Anything that can be done to improve the access would be welcome."

But proposals to abandon the planned bus lane in Hinchingbrooke Park Road and Brampton Road, near the police headquarters, will not improve timekeeping on Stagecoach's 20-minute frequency service.

"We have to try to come up with solutions that give us some priority without causing gridlock," he said.