The Walton Centre teams up with Arriva to improve transport links to the hospital

Staff from The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust have been working with Arriva to improve transport links to the hospital and the surrounding area, through their membership of Liverpool Citizens.

The specialist neurosciences trust was a founding member of Liverpool Citizens (part of Citizens UK), which is a broad-based community alliance uniting diverse local organisations across education, health, housing, faith, community and charitable sectors to empower local communities to make sustainable change. Through listening to our local staff, issues with bus services in the Fazakerley area, where the hospital is located, were identified. The Trust has been leading work to address the issues and deliver improvements alongside the bus operator Arriva.

The Walton Centre’s Neuromodulation Co-ordinator, Jonathan Bygroves, has been a key member of staff supporting these efforts. He said: “Over the years, getting the 62 bus to work has always been more stressful and difficult than should have been. When we began working with Liverpool Citizens, I knew this was something we could address together. My colleague Frank Burns and I quickly established that the bus route was limited and unreliable for both staff and patients, which was having a sizeable impact.”

Issues reported by staff and patients included delays, last minute cancellations, and buses too small to accommodate the number of passengers. These issues were put to Arriva at the Founding Assembly of Liverpool Citizens. After subsequent feedback sessions and discussions with Arriva were held, a number of small changes were made to the service, correcting the issues identified.

Jonathan added: “Through Liverpool Citizens, we were able to work with Arriva on the problems we were facing. In the first year we made huge strides and, I think, improved the service on offer.”

Walton Centre staff involved in Liverpool Citizens now have an ongoing relationship with the bus operator, which is leading to further improvements, in particular piloting a new version of their app, which should include better real-time information for passengers.

The Walton Centre’s Chief Operating Officer Gary Price said:

“It’s a testament to our hardworking staff involved in Liverpool Citizens that they have been able to improve the service for our staff and patients so dramatically. Often, we complain about the things that are negatively impacting our lives, but rarely act on it, so it’s excellent to see our staff working together with the community to make changes.”

The Trust’s Interim Chief People Officer, Jane Mullin, added:

“I am proud of the achievements of The Walton Centre staff involved in Liverpool Citizens; they have been able to influence, with hard work and dedication, an improvement in the service for our staff and patients.”

Arriva Merseyside’s Operations Director, Tom Sunley, said:

“Working closely with The Walton Centre and Liverpool Citizens has been a brilliant example of what can happen when we all talk to each other. We’ve been able to respond directly to feedback and make meaningful improvements to services in the Fazakerley area for the people who rely on our services every day.

“We know how important reliable transport is for both staff and patients and these changes are already helping to make journeys simpler and more dependable. We’ll continue to work together to build on this and deliver further improvements where we can so we can ensure our services support staff, patients, and the wider community.”

Find out more information on Liverpool Citizens and the work it here.

Find out the latest in Liverpool here.

Find out what’s good up North on our new platform, The Northern Guide. 

From the best hotels, beauty spots, days out, food and more up North – visit thenorthernguide.com and follow The Northern Guide on Instagram HERE.