Northern Ireland community transport warns ‘deluge’ of health appointments could be missed

A “deluge” of health appointments could be missed next year unless communitytransport organisations are adequately funded, one of Northern Ireland’s mainservice providers has warned.

Minibuses which carry mainly elderly people doorto door in rural areas are able to run at only a third of capacity due tosocial distancing, yet most of the fixed running costs are the same.

Interviewwith Paddy McEldowney, chief executive of Easilink Community Transport, who isbraced for a lot of pent-up demand as health services return to post-pandemicnormal.