Olympic cycling road races 28 & 29 July—information for patients and visitors

The men’s and women’s Olympic cycling road races are taking place this weekend—Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 July.

These are major Olympic road events which will travel along Fulham Road and will pass Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on both the outward and homeward bound legs. As a result, there will be extensive road closures in place over the weekend and barriers will be in place along the route. Fulham Road will be heavily marshalled with designated vehicle and pedestrian crossing points.

The hospital will continue to run as normal—including our Accident & Emergency (A&E) Department—however access to the hospital is likely to be more difficult.

Road closures will be in place from 3am on Saturday 28 July and the full route will not be opened until 8am on Monday 30 July. While the closures are in place, there will be no vehicle access to the hospital except for emergency services vehicles and those requiring urgent care. Barriers will be in place along the route and there will be designated vehicle crossing points along Fulham Road.

The front entrance to the hospital will remain open, however the footpaths are likely to be very congested with spectators. There will be barriers in place along Fulham Road, with limited pedestrian crossing points which will be managed by Olympic volunteers who will only allow crossing when it is safe to do so. There will be two crossing points directly opposite the hospital and these will be clearly signposted.

Important information for pregnant women

We have written to all pregnant women who are due to have their baby at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on or around Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 July advising them of arrangements which will be in place during the weekend.

If you go into labour, or you have any concerns regarding you or your baby’s welfare at anytime during the weekend, please contact our Labour Ward on 020 3315 7841 immediately.

Our midwives will undertake a telephone assessment and either advise you to come to the hospital via a pre-determined marshalled checkpoint, or go to a designated place outside the traffic congestion zone for an assessment.

If you are in labour you may be asked to leave home much earlier than normal, as traffic congestion in the local area is likely to lengthen your journey.

When you call you will be required to give us a contact number so we can keep in touch with you whilst you are on your journey.

Other important information for patients and visitors

The hospital car park will only be available for those requiring urgent access—for example women in labour and their partners—and in exceptional circumstances. It will be access-controlled by a security guard and those requiring access will need to arrange this in advance—please speak to your nurse or midwife.

The car park will be completely closed and no cars will be allowed to enter or exit at these times:

• Saturday 28 July: 8–10:45am and 12:30–4:30pm
• Sunday 29 July: 10:30am–12:45pm and 1–2:30pm

More than 60 bus routes will be affected and diversions will be in place—including the 14, 414 and 211 buses which pass the hospital. Night buses will continue to run along Fulham Road until 7am on Saturday 28 July. All overground train and tube services will be much busier than usual.

Follow us on Twitter for the latest updates this weekend

We will be providing regular updates over the weekend on our Twitter feed—follow us @ChelwestFT.