Health responders allowed through LTNs in Oxford
Concerns were raised by the NHS about the Low Traffic Neighbourhoods
Oxfordshire County Council have decided to allow urgent community response vehicles to drive through Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) after Oxford’s NHS Trust raised concerns about the “serious knock-on effect” of delays.
The LTNs were put in place on several roads in Cowley and East Oxford with the aim of making streets safer and quieter for those living there.
Urgent Community Responders (UCRs) provide at-home care for patients facing a sudden health or social care crisis.
Without them, the patient would have to call an ambulance or travel to the hospital.
Representatives of Oxford Health NHS Trust asked the council to include urgent community responders in the list of vehicles exempt from LTNs.
Councillor Andrew Gant, cabinet member for transport, agreed to the plans at the delegated decisions for the leader of the council meeting yesterday, (Thursday, May 22) which he chaired instead of councillor Liz Leffman.
Speaking at meeting, Gemma Pugh, head of transformation at Oxford Health NHS Trust, said: “When someone in our community is in crisis, time becomes everything.
“When our teams are delayed by restrictions, that means they must drive longer routes to attend to peoples’ homes
“There’s a serious knock-on effect … people in crisis wait longer for care and more turn to the ambulance service.
“Many of these calls could have been avoided with an urgent community response.
“A fast response can be the difference between someone staying safely at home or needing to be rushed to an already overburdened emergency department.
“This isn’t about convenience, it’s about protecting lives, preserving dignity and easing the growing pressure on acute and emergency services.”
She also said that the trust “recognises the transport challenges in the city and supports the wider approach to reduce congestion, which will enable our NHS colleagues to travel more effectively”.
Emergency services, waste vehicles, postal vehicles and taxis are among the vehicles exempt from LTNs.
The council’s report notes that urgent community responders were “not something that the county council was aware of when the original list of exemptions was drawn up”, despite its previous engagement with the trust.
In the consultation, which took place between March and April this year, 76 per cent of the 210 responses supported the move.
Coalition for Healthy Streets and Active Travel (CoHSAT) raised concerns about there being a “slippery slope” of more and more groups asking for access through LTNs and undermining the point of them, but said that UCRs should be allowed through as proposed.
In response to this, Mr Gant said: “The numbers involved here are tiny, and it is not the case that making one change automatically implies that other changes will follow.
The scheme will be kept under review and monitored for its performance.
The LTNs were installed on Crescent Road, Littlehay Road and Littlemore Road in Cowley, and Divinity Road, James Street and Magdalen Road in East Oxford in May 2022.
They made permanent in 2023 after an 18-month trial.