COUNCIL chief John Thomson has come under fire after it emerged he had made no contact with health bosses or local voluntary Link schemes to discuss the cutting of a bus service to Bath's Royal United Hospital.

At Wiltshire Council’s health scrutiny meeting on Tuesday, the Wiltshire NHS Clinical Commissioning Group presented a paper to highlight the difficulties for patients in attending appointments at the hospital when the Hopper bus ceases to operate in November and it revealed they were not consulted about the cut beforehand.

The service, which is run by Warminster-based A and G Minibuses, has been offering patients in north and west Wiltshire a door-to-door service from their home to the hospital for 15 years.

In the report presented, the CCG said the proposed cuts are causing a “significant degree of concern”.

It also referred to Wiltshire Council’s decision to limit the start time for the usage of bus passes from April 1 from 9am to 9.30am. The CGG believe this decision will "exacerbate the demand for other sources of transport provision, in the same way as the removal of the Hopper services; given that we understand the main use of bus passes before 9am is to attend medical appointments".

The report added: “We are concerned at the potential consequences of the proposal to remove the Hopper service, since currently there do not appear to be any suitable, appropriate, or funded, alternatives."

Coun Jeff Osborn spoke of his dismay at the lack of communication between Mr Thomson and health bosses.

He said: "They say it will seriously impact on the health of local people as many will not be able to get to Bath for outpatients appointments and consultations.

"The same lack of preliminary contact applies to the local Link groups. It seems that none were contacted beforehand. They subsequently have told me that they cannot take on this extra work. To local residents and myself there appears to have been a total failure of process."

Mr Osborn added: "Now I discover that John Thomson has ceased to be the responsible Cabinet member and has left his replacement to sort out the farce."

In a FOI request by Coun Terry Chivers last month it emerged that between April-December 2014, nearly 11,000 people had used the bus service.

The proposed cuts will save the council £130,000 a year which is part of their plan to cut £30m from their 2015/16 budget.

The CCG have since attended meetings with Wiltshire Council to discuss the matter.

Neither Cllr Thomson, who no longer had responsibility for transport, but will concentrate on campuses and Broadband, or Wiltshire Council were able to provide a statement before going to print.