A BUS firm has come under fire from campaigners for the service it offers to Southampton’s hospital staff.

Major concerns have been raised by hospital staff working at Southampton General Hospital and the Princess Anne Hospital over the quality of service from First Bus.

Fed-up passengers listed what they felt were a catalogue of failings ranging from regular lateness of services, to low frequency of buses during early mornings, evenings and weekend and poor route and schedule planning.

The report, compiled by Unison, comes as the axe hangs over vital night-time bus services for hospital staff trying to get to and from work after Southampton City Council cancelled its funding to pay First Bus for those journeys.

Unison argues that if improvements highlighted in the report are made by First Bus, more hospital staff will choose to use the bus, making the threatened routes more viable.

These improvements would include better scheduling of services to fit with the hospitals shift patterns as currently buses leave the site minutes before shifts end or are about to start, being of little use to staff.

Improved punctuality of services, more frequent services at evenings, during early morning and at rush-hour, plus a fare scheme to help reduce costs for staff were also suggestions to help encourage more people to jump onboard.

James Smith, from Unison, said: “Southampton residents deserve a better bus service to and from these major hospital sites.

“If First Bus would only take the time to listen to and consult with their passengers, they would know that some simple changes could improve journeys and perhaps increase passenger numbers.

“For example, some existing evening services are scheduled to arrive five minutes before hospital staff shifts are about to finish, leaving customers waiting half an hour or more for the next service.

“Demand is there for early morning, evening and weekend services but assurances are needed from bus companies that these vital services will be protected.”

The report surveyed passengers on all services operated by different firms, but First Bus faced most of the criticism as the majority of staff used their services.

After receiving the report, a spokesperson from First Bus said: “We do not agree with all of its findings but we will study it closely. We do regret the loss of some evening and weekend journeys but it is important to note that these journeys were provided by First on behalf of the local authority and they have been lost because of funding cuts.

"We are looking at what we can do to minimise the impact of this on people who use the services and we will confirm what that will be in due course.”

They added that they would also be making changes to Service 3, which was criticised in the report, to improve overall punctuality and reliability.

Vow to save service

WHILE the axe still threatens some of the key bus services for Southampton hospital workers, one bus company has vowed to save its evening route.

Despite losing funding from Southampton City Council for late evening bus routes, Uni-link has pledged to keep the U6 service and that they will do their best to sustain the service.

Bluestar, which operates the service, admitted that it will be a “struggle” to sober the cost but felt that the loss of such a service would have a “negative” impact on their services and access to Southampton General and the Princess Anne Hospitals.

Adam Tewkesbury, operations manager at the University of Southampton said: “Uni-link has continued to grow since its introduction, and I am delighted that we are able to maintain the U6 service despite the loss of subsidy.

“In 2011 we increased the frequency of the U6 service to three buses per hour, and we have seen a steady growth in passenger numbers since.”