NHS Trust CEO praises Burnley MP for helping to save the shuttle bus between Burnley General and Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital

The East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust was met with public outcry when it announced its decision to cut a free transport service running between the Royal Blackburn and Burnley General Hospitals. The free service will end on Monday, March 31st.

The Trust said it could no longer afford the annual operation costs of £780,000, as it is currently around £32m. overspent for this year.

Following campaign work by Burnley, Padiham, and Brierfield MP Oliver Ryan, another transport operator stepped in to take over the service from April.

The Trust’s Chief Executive Officer has thanked MP Ryan for helping to find a speedy solution to the issue.

Martin Hodgson, writing in a letter to the MP, said: “Your role in understanding the issue on behalf of local people and using your voice to amplify solutions and encourage key people to come forward and discuss options was critical in achieving the positive result we now have, and I wanted to formally recognise and put on record my appreciation for the hard work and focus you showed this matter over many weeks.

"Your support as MP and genuine concern for the future of the bus for local people was clear to see and I don’t think we would have been able to find such a positive solution so quickly without your help."

More than 15,000 people signed a 38 Degrees petition to save the shuttle, and hundreds took to social media to protest against the Trust’s decision.

Responding to the outcry, MP Ryan held a meeting earlier this year with transport operators, the Trust’s Chief Executive Officer, the leader of Blackburn Council, as well as MPs for Hyndburn, Pendle and Clitheroe, and Rossendale and Darwen. He also raised the issue in Parliament, bringing it to the attention of the Leader of the House of Commons. MP Lucy Powell called hospital shuttles "absolutely vital" to the community and highlighted the Government's mission to ensure that a regular bus service operates seven days a week between hospitals and GP surgeries in every town with a population of more than 10,000 people. The Bus Services Bill is currently going through Parliament.

Following his work, Moving People Bus and Coach Services stepped in to run the service indefinitely from Tuesday, April 1st.

In his letter, Mr Hodgson said the Trust “agrees completely” that a “a bus service which was direct between the two hospitals was vital to ensure continued access to care and services in both towns” but that “it was a simple fact that we could no longer afford to operate the bus ourselves and an alternative needed to be found.”

He thanked the MP for his work, adding: “It is valued and appreciated, and I look forward to working with you in the future as the Trust continues to manage a difficult financial position, which will impact more on how we deliver services.”

More details about the new shuttle service, including pick-up times and locations, are available here.