The plight of pensioners trying to make hospital appointments, tell us your story For many older people hospital appointments can be a worry in themselves but when you factor in the stress and often painful experience of trying to get there and back home, the whole experience can be hugely traumatic.

Age Cymru believes that the hospital transport system needs to meet the needs of older patients in Wales and we would really appreciate the involvement of your readers in our campaign to make sure this is the case across Wales.

Do you have to rely on hospital transport to meet your appointments or do you rely upon local bus services? Perhaps there is a voluntary scheme in your community or do you have to spend huge sums of money on taxi services?

Does your journey mean lots of extended waiting times making the experience even more stressful? Perhaps you have a positive experience of hospital journeys? Either way, we would love to hear your story so we can tell health planners and politicians exactly what does work and what doesn’t.

We’ve already heard stories from older people saying they didn’t qualify for hospital transport and had to take up to three bus journeys to make their appointment. Many also told us that the bus services can be infrequent leading to extending waits while the bus stops were often located some distance from the hospital making the journey even more difficult for those with disabilities.

Poor hospital transport provision can lead to missed appointments and subsequent relapses in medical conditions that could require far more expensive treatment as an emergency. While the cost to older people in terms of the additional stress and pain is immeasurable.”

Please join our campaign by telling us about your experiences of hospital journey by writing to: Age Cymru, 13/14 Neptune Court, Cardiff CF24 5PJ or calling 029 2043 1555.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Victoria Lloyd

 Interim Chief Executive