Campaign launched to save East Lancashire hospital shuttle bus service

A council is to be asked to officially join the campaign to save the free hospital shuttle bus service in East Lancashire.

East Lancashire Hospitals Trust (ELHT) announced on Friday that the free service linking hospitals in Blackburn, Burnley and Nelson will end in March due to costs.

The transport service runs between the Royal Blackburn Hospital, Burnley General Hospital, and Pendle Community Hospital for staff, patients, and visitors.

It has already generated two petitions calling on the trust to reverse the decision which it says will save £780,000 a year.

Now Burnley Council’s full meeting on January 22 will debate a motion put down by Labour group leader Cllr Mark Townsend.

It reads: “This council opposes the unilateral decision by East Lancashire Health Trust cancelling the shuttle bus between the Burnley and Blackburn hospitals.

“Burnley and Blackburn hospitals share services and making this heath system work effectively for all stakeholders in the area requires reliable, integrated and cost free transfer links between sites providing equality of access.

“It is a vital service for patients, patient visitors and staff and its cancellation is a false economy and is unacceptable to this council.

“Impacts include:

” * additional costs for staff with negative impact on morale, retention and recruitment;

” * a reluctance of some patients to attend appointments that will bear additional inconvenience and costs impacting health outcomes for the disadvantaged;

” * additional potential pressure placed on the North West Ambulance (patient transport) Service as patients who can manage by the current bus service seek a cost free alternative;

” * a reluctance by patient visitors to bear additional costs when visiting family/friends impacting the support provided and mental health of patients; and

” * increased private vehicle journeys impacting traffic flows between sites with consequential environmental and climate change impact.

“This council resolves that the chief executive writes to the CEO of ELHT calling on them to reverse their decision to cancel the shuttle bus and the Secretary of State for Health, Burnley MP and Leader of Lancashire County Council calling on them to also lobby ELHT to reverse their decision.”

Already former Burnley MP and Liberal Democrat councillor for the borough’s Coalclough with Deerplay ward has branded the decision ‘an absolute, utter, total disgrace’.

And Cllr Azhar Ali,Lancashire County Councillor for the Nelson East Division, has warned: “People will miss appointments, people are going to be isolated, and this is going to potentially cost lives.”

The service will cease to operate from March 31 as ELHT said in a statement it can ‘no longer afford it’, amid a need to save £26m from its budget.

The trust’s chief executive Martin Hodgson has said: “This decision has not been reached lightly or without significant consideration about the impact on patients, visitors and colleagues, but the trust’s financial position is extremely challenging and our spending decisions remain under additional scrutiny nationally from NHS England.”