FOUR years ago, when the then controversial decision was made to centralise a number of hospital services in either the Royal Blackburn Hospital or Burnley General, a free shuttle bus service was set up for patients, visitors and staff.

The minibuses were considered essential, particularly for patients and visitors.

Existing public bus routes just didn’t serve either building in a convenient manner, and trains were out of the question too, without costly taxi journeys.

The service made environmental sense, too, for staff who had to go from one hospital to another. Better to have several people in one vehicle than each taking their own cars.

Now, instead of buses making the 14-mile trip every 20 minutes, they will run with waits of up to an hour and a quarter during ‘off-peak’ times.

The changes have been made because too few people are said to be travelling in mid-morning and mid-afternoon.

Clearly it makes sense that money shouldn’t be wasted running virtually empty buses across East Lancashire.

But this is a vital service for many people without their own cars.

It must be ensured that the new timetable continues to effectively meet patients’ needs.