383 bus service starts to Finchley Memorial Hospital

The 383 bus service to the Finchley Memorial Hospital officially started on Saturday 31 October 2020. This is really good news for local people who need to attend the hospital.

The local authority and other healthcare partners have been negotiating with Transport for London (TFL) for a long time to improve public transport to the site.

Councillor Lisa Rutter, who has worked tirelessly with TfL for over 3 years to help make this happen is absolutely delighted to have now achieved this. She said: "This is excellent news to finally have a bus service not only for staff and patients, but also for all the local community who attend services provided at the Finchley Memorial Hospital. This is a vital service which many people will appreciate and I hope this service is retained."

TfL organised with the bus operator for Lisa to attend on site to see the 383 bus on its first day. Even though it was a cold, rainy and windy day, there were a few people already queuing for the bus.

Cllr Lisa Rutter and the 383 Bus

Cllr Lisa Rutter and the 383 Bus

The Barnet Directorate of the North Central London Clinical Commissioning Group was one of the partners that have been lobbying for this service. Colette Wood, Director of Primary Care Transformation, said: "I am so pleased that everybody's hard work to get this service up and running has achieved this outcome. It will make so much difference to our patients who need to travel to the hospital on public transport, particularly those who are more frail, and I would like to thank all our partners for their efforts."

Although this is a temporary service, provided no major issues come to light, a full consultation on retaining the extension will be carried out in a few months' time.

Finchley Memorial Hospital Community Health Partnerships 'CHP' have invested a sum of capital to the site to enable the new signage and road lay out that had to be installed as part of this new service. CHP wants to ensure that patients experience within the hospital is to the highest possible standards and, of course, to make their journey to and from the hospital as easy and stress free as possible.

The route frequency will remain the same, with a service every 30 minutes (two buses per hour) between 06:00 and 20:00 from Finchley Memorial Hospital and departures times from Barnet, The Spires, remaining the same (05:35-19:35).

Published: Nov 17, 2020