Locations and Travel Requirements

Students are expected to cover their travel costs to any destination within 25 miles of their base location – either their university campus (Phase 1) or their Hospital base (Phase 2).

Journeys over 25 miles come under our expenses policy and extra mileage over 25 miles can be claimed as an expense up to a certain financial limit each journey.

Driving in the UK on a non-UK license and getting a driving licence

There are a variety of options for students who have a non-UK driving licence. Please check the latest information on the Government website.

You may be able to drive on your existing licence for a period of time, or you may have to transfer your licence. You can find out how to apply for a provisional driving licence and about learning to drive in the UK on the Government website.

Alternative travel options

At the time of writing, Rome2Rio can be used to help plan your journey. The sites and links provided are not endorsed by the university but have been used by students and staff and may come in handy to help you plan your journeys.

Taxi

Taxis can usually be pre-booked and it is advisable to do so in advance for any planned trips that you cannot get to by other modes of transport. Most train stations have a taxi rank and bus service outside, and you should be able to plan your journey accordingly. There are a range of private taxi companies which are usually regionally based, therefore using one of the search tools online is usually the best method for identifying taxi companies in your local area.

Trains

Students can receive up to 30% off rail travel by purchasing an annual railcard.

Live up to date rail travel and journey planner information is available on The Trainline and the National Rail website.

Bus

Bus services are provided by a range of different service providers throughout the UK. You can find many bus routes via Traveline or Firstbus but you may also need to do an online search for the journey you wish to take and usually the relevant service provider will be identified. From there you can get specific timetables for your journeys. Many bus services provide weekly, monthly or annual tickets at a discounted price so don’t forget to enquire about the best way to save money.

Car clubs

If you don’t have access to your own car but have a valid driving licence and want the freedom to drive, you could join a car club. Membership to a car club enables you to access a car through an app on your phone and you can pick up and drop off from a range of locations. You can book cars by the hour or by the day and pay for what you use. Some of the car club schemes are listed here:

• Enterprise Car Club
• co-wheels
• getaround
• Zip Car

Throughout your course, we give you a range of experiences through a variety of providers. This starts in year 1 and runs throughout year 2 with your Clinical Skills Foundation Course and Narrative Medicine Course. During these sessions, there will be days when you are expected to travel to one of our General Practitioner or Hospital Partners who provide you a learning experience and exposure to patients. This is an excellent opportunity to interact with patients at an early stage of your studies and is a fantastic chance to learn and embed vital skills.

Whilst we try to work with GP and hospital practices close to our two campuses (Buckingham and Crewe), this is not always possible and some of our practices are situated over 25 miles from campus. Students do not get a choice of where they will be allocated and must be aware that they are expected to find their own means of transport to get to and from their placements. This is a core part of the course and not attending this key element of learning is not an option.

During Phase 2 (years 3 and 4) students are allocated to a base hospital which is where the majority of their studies are undertaken. Students can be allocated to any Local Education Provider across the country, (see map above). Students are expected to move close to their base hospital in order to meet the demands of the course. Long distance travel between your home address and your hospital placement is strongly discouraged. The map on this page indicates the location of our Local Education Partners hospital locations.

Please note that Buckingham Healthcare Trust operates two main sites for our students. This means that for certain block rotations in Years 3 and 4 you will be travelling between Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Wycombe Hospitals to get exposure and experience of certain specialities. Students often live in and around Aylesbury but may wish to place themselves halfway between the two sites.

ALL students will be required to go out on placement to a variety of different locations beyond their base hospital at some point during Phase 2 and will be required to travel, sometimes significant distances. This, again, is a core part of your learning and students must attend these locations. Students often car share or share taxis but must always ensure that they have their route and timetable planned out as lateness to any form of teaching and learning experience is not tolerated and is considered unprofessional.

Most teaching is based at the hospital during phase two of the course. The dermatology centre, which is included during the cancer care block, is a 10-minute walk from the hospital. Some teaching is held 15 minutes’ drive away during the special senses block. Other blocks also use Stratford Hospital which is a 20 minutes’ drive. Students can register for parking for £7.19 a month.

For CSFC in phase one, a coach is organised for students from the medical school in Buckingham at no cost to the students.

As this is a multi-site trust, students need to travel to multiple sites in phase two. As Stoke Mandeville Hospital is considered the main site, travel here is not reimbursed. However, travel is reimbursed to Wycombe Hospital and Amersham Hospital. Reimbursement is only available for public transport (bus and train tickets).

Students sometimes request reimbursement for taxis due to reliability issues. They can approve taxis only when no public transport is available. In these cases, they reimburse up to the equivalent cost of public transport, not the full taxi fare.

Currently the phase two blocks (not including mental health and primary care) are split:

• Cardiorespiratory: Cardiology is at WH, Respiratory is at SMH
• Peri Operative: SMH & WH
• Musculoskeletal: SMH & WH
• Gastrointestinal: SMH
• Child Health: SMH & WH
• Acute Care: SMH
• Elderly & Chronic Care: SMH & WH. Mondays with district community nurses (students attend SMH, then travel with the nurses), Tuesdays at GP surgeries
• Cancer Care: SMH (note: a few early block lectures are held at MKUH)
• Special Senses: SMH & WH
• Reproductive Health: SMH & WH

During phase 1 for CSFC, students must organise their own travel to Stoke Mandeville hospital.

Most of the phase two blocks are held at the hospital but there is some travel involved in some.

During the Cancer Care block, students spend a week at Willen Hospice and have to use their own transport, and they go out for a half or full day with Willen at Home Team in the team’s cars. They also have to travel to Willen for an education afternoon on the first day of the block.

During the Special Senses block students must travel to Lloyds Court in Central Milton Keynes to attend Ophthalmology Clinics. The number of times they travel will vary from block to block depending on the number of clinics available, but on average students travel to Lloyds Court roughly 6-8 times whilst in the block using their own transport. Car Parking is provided by the Council as MKUH do provide permits, but the students would need to provide their car registrations prior to the block starting so this can be organised in advance.

For the Child Health block students have an external placement arranged for them for one day at Woodlands School and are expected to use their own transport to attend this.

For Phase 1 the students apply for a car parking permit for MKUH and can use either of the multi storey car parks when they come for placement.

Most blocks are held at the hospital, but phase two students are given the opportunity to apply for a parking permit when they return their ID badge form and collect their ID badge. Parking on site is free for medical students with the use of their permit. There is a local public bus service in Crewe which runs directly to the hospital.

Students attend East Cheshire NHS Trust in Macclesfield for their cancer care block, parking is provided.

Most blocks are held at the hospital, but phase two students attend Mid Cheshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (Leighton Hospital) for their special senses block.

Parking is provided.

Milton Keynes-based students are placed at St Andrew’s Healthcare in Northampton, and students are placed across their 180-acre site. Free parking is available. If you don’t drive, there is a direct rail link between Northampton and Milton Keynes, with a 10 minutes’ walk to the site.

Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust are based at CNWL in Milton Keynes, next to the hospital. In the community, various locations in Milton Keynes and Bletchley are included within the timetable for ward rounds, home visits, new assessments, follow-up clinics and emergency reviews.

Warwick students are based at The Railings in Rugby which is an outpatient clinic. It is based 10 minutes from the train station and there is free parking available. Students also attend home visits, but they would usually attend with a doctor. There are also sessions based at The Caludon UHCW in Coventry or at St Michaels in Warwick.

Macclesfield and Leighton students are placed at Cheshire & Wirral Partnership (in Macclesfield). Parking without payment would result in a fine, but there are two CWP sites with free parking.

During phase one of the course in years one and two, students will be allocated as a group to a practice in terms 2-6, rotating between a GP, the medical school and a hospital (Stoke Mandeville, Warwick and Milton Keynes). A coach is organised from the medical school to Warwick, but groups must organise their own transport to Stoke Mandeville and Milton Keynes for which buses run from Buckingham to Milton Keynes & Aylesbury with connecting buses to the hospital if using public transport.

The Primary Care Block in Junior Rotation consists of 3 days at a GP surgery and 2 days with facilitators. For the facilitator days, Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust-based students attend Berrycroft Community Health Centre in Aylesbury, Milton Keynes-based students attend the medical school campus in Buckingham, Warwick-based students attend Warwick Hospital and Macclesfield & Leighton-based students attend the medical school’s office located in Crewe.

Once a week during the Elderly and Chronic Care block, placements are allocated at a GP surgery. The rest of the block is hospital based except for the social care element.

View GP Practice Locations (PDF)

Milton Keynes-based students are placed at CNWL THQ, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes once a week during the block, with some clinics being held at Bletchley Community Centre. There is free parking on site and street parking available also. No restaurants are within walking distance at Bletchley Community Centre; however, kitchen facilities are available.

Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust attend most social care sessions at Stoke Mandeville where minimal parking is available, so they encourage students to make minimal use of this. Travel to Wycombe General Hospital may also be involved for which using a bus is advised. The block also involves visiting The Brookside in Aylesbury and funeral parlours which are all on a bus route. If making visits with community teams students would be guests in their cars.

Warwick-based students have simulation sessions 5 minutes walk from the hospital, join the community urgent response team in Leamington Spa.

Leighton and Macclesfield students could be required to visit several different bases throughout the placement: Macclesfield Care Community, Waters Green Medical Centre, Macclesfield; CHAW Care Community, Handforth Health Centre, Handforth; BDP Care Community, Priorslegh Medical Centre, Poynton; CHOC Care Community, Congleton War Memorial Hospital, Congleton; and Knutsford Care Community, Knutsford Community Hospital, Knutsford. Once at the base a clinician will drive students to visit patients. Each base is within walking distance of a train station.