THE number of buses serving Musgrove Park Hospital, in Taunton, is restricted because air ambulances frequently land on a helipad outside its accident and emergency department (A&E), councillors have been told.

Somerset Bus Partnership spokesperson David Northey said efforts were being made to increase bus services to the hospital to reduce traffic congestion on roads and ease pressure on Musgrove’s multi-storey car park.

Mr Northey told a Somerset Council bus advisory board meeting there were Government regulations covering how often buses can operate near working helipads.

He said: “We have in the last two months struck up an engagement with Musgrove Park Hospital.

“It feels like a positive step.

“One of the problems with Musgrove we did not know, was that due to a national policy on helicopter arrival and departure, it is restricting the amount of buses that could potentially go into the hospital.

“This is something that we need to challenge, because it does not seem to be restricting the number of cars that go into the hospital.”

Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) guidance states: “Within the immediate heliport area, markings such as red routes, no waiting zones, and hatched areas should be used to prevent vehicles parking or waiting in areas where the vehicle may either become an aviation obstacle, especially on bus routes or ambulance parking areas, or where the occupants may enter or exit the vehicle and be subject to downwash/outwash.”

Mr Northey said the bus partnership would meet in the coming weeks with Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Musgrove, to discuss if more bus services could be accommodated without putting patients at risk.

He said: “We have some ideas of how we can get some more buses linking into that part of Taunton, because it is such a critical area.”