Call to extend bus services for Walsall hospice
Calls have been made to extend the hours of a 'vital' bus service which drops people on the doorstep of Walsall's multi-million pound hospice following complaints that vulnerable patients have been left stranded.
The number 26 bus, which runs between Walsall and Bloxwich, takes patients, visitors and volunteers to St Giles Walsall Hospice, in Goscote Lane, on weekday mornings.
But Margaret Wood, chairwoman of Walsall Patient Advisory Cancer Team, says patients using the bus service to get to morning appointments have then found they are stranded as there is no afternoon service.
West Midlands transport authority Centro, which subsidises the bus service operated by Walsall Community Transport, says a review will be carried out in the spring to see whether it is viable to continue the service and extend its operating hours following a 12-month trial.
Centro spokesman Steve Swingler said the contract for the service is due for renewal in the spring, when there would be a review and the operating hours would be looked at.
