A new direct and regular bus route is essential to help patients reach vital clinics, campaigners say.<\/p>\n
A petition has been launched to push for a transport service to Shearway Business Park by Jennie Hariri, who says travel to the site has been a long term problem for patients.<\/p>\n
Jennie Hariri started the petition after receiving regular complaints from patients about the lack of access to service. Picture: Jennie Hariri<\/p>\n
The industrial estate is home to a number of NHS services, including ophthalmology and dermatology clinics, ultrasound scans, diabetic eye screening, occupational health and physiotherapy.<\/p>\n
Despite this, the nearest bus stops are Ilex Road, an 18-minute walk away; Kent Road, 13 minutes away; and Milestone Close, 12 minutes away.<\/p>\n
For residents travelling from nearby towns such as Hythe, journeys can take up to an hour.<\/p>\n
Kent County Council has confirmed that they are aware of the petition and will provide a response in line with their policies.<\/p>\n
Ms Hariri – who works as the ophthalmology service manager – said: \u201cA regular bus service would make a meaningful difference.<\/p>\n
A number of patients require pupil dilation during their appointments which prevents them from driving for hours afterward. Picture: Jennie Hariri<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will improve access to care, reduce financial strain and support greener travel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve received consistent feedback from our patients about the challenges of travelling to our clinic.\u201d<\/p>\n
A significant number of patients require pupil dilation during their appointments, which temporarily affects their vision and prevents them from driving for at least two to six hours afterwards.<\/p>\n
This leads to many relying on family members, friends, or costly taxi services in order to get to their appointments on time.<\/p>\n
The petition has already gathered support from patients and families frustrated by the lack of options.<\/p>\n
Ms Hariri said: \u201cI want to be a voice for my patients and make the council realise that this is a vital need.<\/p>\n
Folkestone Eye Centre offers several NHS services at Shearway Business Park. Picture Jennie Hariri<\/p>\n
\u201cOur model reflects the future of healthcare, aligning with the NHS 10-Year Plan to deliver care in the heart of the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just need public transport access.\u201d<\/p>\n
Transport operator Stagecoach has confirmed that they are working with local authorities to find additional ways to improve access to the site.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson said: \u201cWe are in contact with Kent County Council to review what options are available, and we\u2019ll continue to work with them to explore ways to improve accessibility.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new direct and regular bus route is essential to help patients reach vital clinics, campaigners say. A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[2556,102,2960,192,2558,191,3863,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-225353","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-folkestone","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-human-interest","12":"tag-hythe","13":"tag-kent","14":"tag-romney-marsh","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}