The leader of Enfield Council has joined calls for better public transport links to a hospital amid concerns over accessibility.

Councillor Nesil Caliskan has called on Transport for London (TfL) to look at improving the routes to Chase Farm Hospital so patients can travel there “without any difficulty and the least disruption possible”.

In a letter to Gareth Powell, TfL’s managing director of surface transport, the council leader pointed out that a bus link from Oakwood Underground Station would reduce the number of changes for patients travelling to the hospital on public transport.

It follows complaints from Enfield Over 50s Forum over plans to move some operations carried out at Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead – including hip and knee replacements – 12 miles away to Chase Farm Hospital.

New Labour leader Nesil Caliskan New Labour leader Nesil Caliskan

This means people travelling in from Hampstead will have to take one or more trains to Oakwood Station, then take two buses or walk for more than two-and-a-half miles to get to the hospital.

The Over 50s Forum has called on Transport for London (TfL) to reroute either the 377, 121 or 307 from Oakwood station all the way to Chase Farm.

But TfL has ruled out re-routing the services, claiming this would “significantly increase journey times for all customers”.

Geoff Hobbs, TfL’s director of public transport service planning, said: “A large number of high-frequency routes operate from Enfield Town Centre.

“With the Mayor’s Bus Hopper fare allowing for unlimited journeys on a bus within an hour for just £1.50, easy links from Oakwood station and beyond are now possible.

“We are happy to work with the borough to ensure changing buses in the town centre is as easy as possible.”