Burnley Express Readers' letters: Axing hospital shuttle bus will have massive impact on health of vulnerable people in East Lancashire
For the past two and half years years an age related illness has necessitated monthly visits to outpatient clinics in Burnley and Blackburn hospitals.
From many chats with fellow patients it was abundantly clear that the shuttle bus was the only way that they could travel from Burnley to Blackburn and vice versa.
In an attempt to explain why the free service, launched for staff, patients and visitors running between the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital (RBTH), Burnley General Teaching Hospital (BGTH) and Pendle Community Hospital (PCH) is being cancelled, the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust Chief executive Martin Hodgson states that in four months only 246 staff and 35 patients used the service.
I do not know how or when this data was obtained but I would suggest that from my experience the figures should be challenged. Not everyone can get to the hospitals by car, and the ambulances are only for the very elderly or those with limited mobility. Depending on where you live, a taxi can cost between £35 and £55 for a single journey so the shuttle bus is a vital service. Without it many would be denied medical treatment. Whenever cuts are made they rarely, if ever, start at the top or where unions are strong so the shuttle bus was the ideal target. The money saved by closing the service will have little effect on the £26 million deficit, but it will have a massive impact on the physical and mental health and finances of vulnerable people in East Lancashire.