Blue light ambulance stuck in traffic at Walsgrave Hospital

This is the moment an emergency ambulance with its blue lights flashing became gridlocked in traffic at Coventry’s University Hospital.



It was taken yesterday as an emergency crew got caught in tailbacks trying to get to doctors and nurses in the main building.

It is the latest in a long line of alarming reports of ambulances and patients being held up in queues as they struggle to reach the hospital.

Yet a planning application to build a second entrance and extra parking spaces – repeatedly cited as the solution to the problem – has yet to be submitted to Coventry City Council.

Cat Flowers took the photograph as she sat in the gridlocked traffic at the hospital yesterday and posted it on social media site Twitter.

She said: “This ambulance with blue lights can’t get into the hospital due to traffic. Action needed.”

Ambulance drivers can only use their blue lights in an emergency, so the vehicle must have a seriously ill or injured patient on board.

Congestion on and around the hospital site in Walsgrave has been a growing problem for several years.

In December one bus driver even told sick passengers to get out and walk from the edge of the hospital site because he could not fight his way through the gridlock.

Six weeks ago hospital bosses unveiled a raft of short term measures to ease the traffic crisis.

They have already reclaimed 50 staff parking spaces for public use and are preparing a one way system to keep the spinal road clear for ambulances and disabled drivers.

A spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service confirmed its drivers only used blue lights on emergency calls, but said no particular problems were reported at University Hospital yesterday.

He said the service was aware of the wider problem was working with hospital bosses to reach a solution.

In the meantime the hospital opened a side gate as an emergency entrance for ambulances when the traffic was particularly bad, he said.

However, that is only a partial solution as it only allows them to skip the bottle neck at the site entrance.

When the roads further onto site are blocked it is still impossible for the ambulances to get through.

Hospital bosses insist the long term solution is to build a second entrance and more parking spaces, as similar sized hospitals are all better served.

They vowed to submit their repeatedly delayed planning application in January - but have yet to do so.

One problem is that the development is linked to plans for 600 new houses on green belt land behind the hospital site, which are fiercely opposed by the local community.

As property giant Gallagher Estates is sharing the cost of the new entrance University Hospital has to wait until it is ready to proceed.

Lincoln Dawkin, the hospital’s head of estates, said it had given all the necessary information to Gallaghers and was looking forward to the firm submitting the application.

He said the site was busy yesterday and a number of patients arrived by air ambulance, temporarily stopping traffic. He apologised for any incovenience but said security were out trying to keep the traffic flowing.

Extra parking at Coventry University Hospital fast-tracked to ease congestion

PLANS to create 230 extra parking spaces on wasteland near Coventry’s University Hospital are set to be fast-tracked to ease crippling congestion at the site.

Hospital bosses have given up waiting for developer Gallagher Estates to submit their joint masterplan – which would include a second entrance and hundreds of extra parking spaces to the rear of the site.

So they have submitted a further application to transform wasteland on the site into an extra car park.

It will allow the hospital to press ahead with more congestion busting measures without waiting for Gallagher’s repeatedly delayed plans.

They will also pilot a new one way system for four days next week, sending all incoming traffic around the edge of the site.

Head of estates Lincoln Dawkin said: “I hope these actions, on top of the extra 50 spaces for members of the public we released in February, show we are being proactive and finding ways now to improve the congestion on site in the short-term for our patients, visitors and staff.”

Congestion has been a problem at University Hospital for years as it was built without a second entrance and with 1,000 fewer parking spaces than most comparable centres.

In recent months this has frequently culminated in gridlock, forcing buses to drop passengers at the edge of the site and leading to many patients missing their appointments.

Two weeks ago the Telegraph published a shocking photograph of an ambulance with its emergency lights flashing trapped in traffic outside the hospital, unable to reach A&E.

Bosses still believe the Gallagher plan is vital as a long term solution, but that remains in limbo after the developer missed another deadline.

It would also take 18 months to complete – if it is passed at all.

In the meantime the hospital and the council are keen to press ahead with other measure such as squeezing more parking spaces onto site and the new one way system.

A spokeswoman for Coventry City Council said: “We are aware of the issue of the hospital parking difficulty, so we will be dealing with this planning application as quickly as possible to alleviate the problem.”

University Hospital always proposed to develop the wasteland next to the Caludon Centre as a new car park as part of its masterplan.

Pushing ahead with another planning application will lumber the hospital with an additional bill, but the cost is thought to be nominal.

Local residents are in favour of congestion busting measures on the hospital site, but furiously opposed to plans for 600 new homes on green belt land near the A46.

One campaigner told the Telegraph he hoped the new application would be fast tracked to ease congestion.

Coventry hospital trials one-way system to ease congestion

A West Midlands hospital is trialling a one-way system for four days to help ease traffic congestion that has caused delays for emergency vehicles.

Ambulances will be able to approach University Hospital in Coventry by the usual route but general traffic will be diverted elsewhere on site.

An NHS spokesman said it would "relieve some of the issues" despite claims it would not help patients and staff.

The diversions will be in place between 09:00 and 17:00 BST until Thursday.

Coventry resident Tony Swann said he has been affected by the congestion problems while taking his wife to the hospital for chemotherapy treatment.

He said: "As far as emergency services go I think it's going to help enormously.

"We're not going to see what we saw two or three weeks ago with an ambulance on blue lights stuck in the traffic jam.

"As far as general public attending the hospital for appointments and clinics, I don't think it's going to make any difference at all to them.

"They're still going to queue because they can't magic an extra 200 car parking spaces."

Lincoln Dawkin, director of estates at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, urged the public to adhere to the diversions.

Mr Dawkin said: "I hope that these actions, on top of the extra 50 spaces for members of the public we released in February, show that we are being proactive and finding ways now to improve the congestion on site in the short-term for our patients, visitors and staff.

"During the week we may have the need to change the diversions around dependant on traffic flow."

He added that the hospital has submitted a planning application for a second access road at the rear of site and additional parking spaces.

University Hospital accused of breaking promises over second entrance

UNIVERSITY Hospital has been accused of breaking the promises made to its neighbours after unveiling plans for a second entrance.

The proposed new staff entrance onto Farber Road is part of the hospital’s plan to tackle its congestion crisis. Bosses believe it would divert 200 cars per hour away from the bottleneck at the main entrance at peak times in the morning and evening.

However, homeowners were furious when they were presented with the plan at the Henley Ward Forum.

They claim they were given assurances there would be no entrance from Farber Road or Hall Lane before the hospital was built.

Geoff Brown, who lives in nearby School House Lane, said: “The hospital is going back on everything it said to us 17 years ago.

“They gave us absolutely assurances there would never be an entrance from the housing estate.

“Should we believe anything else the hospital tells us?”

The hospital has been plagued by traffic problems since it opened.

Bosses hope the latest plan will help to ease that pressure and could even clear some of the congestion on the nearby Hinckley Road and Ansty Road.

As well as a second entrance they want to build 300 extra parking spaces, improve the on-site roads and create a new drop-off zone.

However, the success of the project could rest on whether it is allowed to build the second entrance on a small residential road for selected staff. Residents at the Henley Ward Forum on Wednesday night clamoured to register their concerns.

They argued their roads were not wide enough to cope with hundreds more cars, especially as they were already used by farm vehicles.

In particular they argue the extra traffic will cause chaos when combined with the morning school run to Walsgrave C of E primary school.

Mr Brown, who lives near the school, said: “We have already had one girl killed on Brade Drive [in 1998], we don’t want another tragedy. This plan will put children going to school at risk.”

There were numerous calls for University Hospital to revisit plans to build a second entrance off the A46.

However, Coun Kevin Maton reminded residents it was the Highways Agency who blocked that idea.

Hospital chief executive Andy Hardy said it had revisited the idea of a slip road within the last six months, but the Highways Agency still refused to consider the scheme.

He said he did not work at the hosptal when the planning application went in and he was not aware of any promises made to residents.

Mr Hardy said the hospital was a major trauma centre and its priority was providing world class care to patients on their doorsteps.

He said the current situation required decisive action, adding: “These plans give University Hospital a real chance to alleviate the ongoing congestion and access issues.

“I hope the public will welcome and support these changes.”

University Hospital Coventry entrance plans turned down



Plans for a second entrance to relieve congestion at University Hospital Coventry have been turned down.

More than 200 people had signed a petition against the plans for the new entrance, off Brade Drive and Farber Road, saying it could be a safety risk.

City councillors turned down the plans on Thursday but accepted others for extra parking spaces and a redesign of the hospital's bus interchange.

The hospital said it was disappointed with the decision.

Hospital managers had said they wanted ambulances and staff to be able to access the site from a second entrance to help relieve congestion at the main entrance.

However, residents' group Walsgrave Community Forum said the volume of traffic under the plans risked the safety of children travelling to a nearby school.

Members of the council's planning committee agreed and said they did not believe a second entrance was necessary.

However, they approved other plans, including building upper decks to two car parks, which would create an extra 282 spaces.