Travelling to your hospital appointment - information for people with cancer or a blood condition

Your clinical team will tell you if it is safe for you to travel to the hospital by public transport.

If you take public transport, use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser or wash your hands when you get to the hospital. You may also choose to wear a facemask.

If you’re on a low income, you can reclaim your travel costs to hospital appointments. To check if you qualify, read the leaflet Help with hospital travel costs*. Or you may qualify for a Macmillan Grant (see the section Other financial support).

You may be able to travel for free or at discounted prices if you live in London and you:

• are 60 years old or over
• have a disability
• are a student
• are a veteran.

Check if you qualify on the Transport for London (TfL) website.

To find out where you can park around UCLH, visit en.parkopedia.co.uk

There’s parking for blue badge holders at and around UCLH. For more information, read the leaflet Parking for Blue Badge holders*. There are strict criteria you must meet to get a blue badge. The criteria don’t include having a cancer diagnosis. To check if you qualify and to apply for a blue badge, visit gov.uk/apply-blue-badge. Applications can take up to 12 weeks to be processed.

If you are on a low income, you can claim for your petrol costs. To check if you qualify, read the leaflet Help with hospital travel costs*. Or you may qualify for a Macmillan Grant (see the section Other financial support). You can reclaim congestion and ULEZ charges if you park at or near the hospital.

There’s more information about this in the two leaflets: Reclaiming the congestion charge* and Reclaiming the ULEZ charge*.

If you’re on a low income, you may qualify for a Macmillan Grant which you can use to pay for taxi fares (see the section Other financial support below).

The Taxi card scheme is available for subsidised (partly funded) taxi travel within London. To qualify, you need to live in London and meet certain criteria related to your health and mobility.

Apply through your local council: londoncouncils.gov.uk/services/taxicard

You can also request an application form by email taxi.card@londoncouncils.gov or phone 020 7934 9791. You may find cheaper taxi fares through the phone apps such as Uber or Bolt (we can’t take responsibility for the services you receive from these companies). Also check with your local taxi firms.

Some charities offer volunteer services to get you to hospital appointments.

Check the following charities to see what they provide in your area:

• Age UK (Tel: 0800 055 6112, website: ageuk.org.uk)
• Royal Voluntary Service (Tel: 0330 555 0310, website: royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk)
• Charities in the area you live.

Your local council may also provide transport support schemes. Visit their website or call them to see what they offer.

Macmillan Grant

This is a one-off payment of £200 for anyone who has a cancer diagnosis. You can qualify for a Macmillan grant if you have:

• savings of less than £1,000 per household
• a weekly income of £323 or less (for a household of one person) or £442 or less (for a household of two or more people).

A support and information specialist or your clinical nurse specialist (CNS) can apply for a Macmillan grant for you. Or you can apply by calling Macmillan on 0808 808 00 00.

Turn2us

Turn2us is a national charity that can help you to access charitable grants.

Tel: 020 8834 9200

Website: turn2us.org.uk

NHS low income scheme

You may be entitled to the NHS low income scheme if you have less that £16,000 in savings.

To find out more, visit nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-low-income-scheme