The Health Service is a major traffic generator. The resulting delays cause frustration for staff, visitors and for patients. Delays cause inefficiency and may even jeopardise patient care. As more travel is made by car, rather than by foot or by bike, levels of fitness decline.
Cycling is part of the solution to both the above problems.
It is an ideal form of transport for short local journeys and it is a near perfect form of exercise. Working in partnership with four regional healthcare trusts, Health on Wheels will work to make four regional healthcare sites more cycle-friendly. It will carry out detailed travel surveys, utilise focus groups, organise cycle skills training sessions, start Bicycle User Groups and devise safe routes. Health on Wheels will also work with clinicians to support rehabilitation programmes for patients who have been prescribed exercise as part of a lifestyle change after illness. This pioneering project aims to quadruple the level of cycling to NHS sites in line with the National Cycling Strategy.