PUBLIC transport website Traveline has launched an information page dedicated to the new Southern hospital in Glasgow as the city gears up for the largest exodus of staff and patients in its history.
Staff numbers at the expanded Southern General University Hospital site, just south of the Clyde tunnel, will more than double from 4,790 to 10,561 this summer as thousands of health board workers and patients transfer from other hospitals across Glasgow.
The new super-campus in Govan replaces the existing Southern General, Victoria and Western Infirmaries, Yorkhill hospital, and the Mansionhouse Unit, with the first departments going live from April 24.
It is expected to be fully up and running in June.
However, the scale of the migration has raised questions about how the public transport and road infrastructure around the hospital will cope, with a shortage of parking places for staff also leading to warnings from nurses union, RCN Scotland, that many of their members will struggle to journey to work without a car.
The nearest rail and Subway stations are both 20 minutes walk from the site, although it will be served by regular bus services stopping within and outside the grounds.
With two weeks to go until the transfer begins, Traveline Scotland has now launched a section on its homepage dedicated to the new Southern.
The website, a partnership between public transport operators, local authorities and Transport Scotland, will detail the most direct door-to-door transport options to and from the hospital.
These include the new Fastlink bus services, local bus services, rail, subway, park and ride, and cycling.
A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde said: "The move to the new hospitals is the biggest ever migration of services in the history of Glasgow health care.
"We want to ensure patients, visitors and staff are fully prepared for the move and have a travel plan in place.
"By using the Traveline Scotland service, people will have a number of ways to find a wide variety of travel options for travelling to and from the hospitals."
Journeys can be checked using the Traveline website, app, or via the 24-hour call centre on 0871 200 22 33.
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