• Lack of cars

• poor public transport

• Inaccessible health sites

• Lack of negotiation skills

• Lack of social support e.g. with childcare

• Cultural differences between patients and NHS staff

• Increases morbidity including mobility problems

DIG has been particularly concerned over the apparent lack of a planned public transport to the New Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, a flagship "Public-Private Partnership" development on an out-of town site. DIG has requested representation at the "joint transport committee", has lobbied the City of Edinburgh Council, Lothian Health, The University Hospitals NHS Trust and Consort Healthcare, the developers of the hospital. Being still unconvinced that health inequalities are being prioritized in the transport planning, DIG is now writing to Susan Deacon, Minister for Health at the Scottish Parliament and other Lothian MSPs.