BUS services between Worcester, Redditch and Kidderminster hospitals have improved - but only if you travel during the week.

In September the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust switched some of its services between the hospitals, causing travelling problems for patients and visitors from Malvern and Worcester.

Despite a leaflet issued by Worcestershire Health Authority saying direct bus links between hospitals would be in place before operations were moved, this failed to materialise.

Now services have been set up between Worcester CrownGate and the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, but they only run Monday to Friday and users are expected to pay.

In Kidderminster, patients and their visitors now forced to travel to Worcester or Redditch are issued with bus vouchers.

As a user of the bus service, Pamela Bulmer, of Newland, said having no weekend link was a ridiculous situation.

Mrs Bulmer, who is disabled, found it very difficult to visit her brother in hospital after his operation was moved to Redditch.

She said: "We've got that bus service in the week but on Saturday and Sunday there's nothing, which I found disappointing.

Mrs Bulmer said she was told that there were no weekend services because patients were discharged at weekends.

"But my brother was at Redditch for two weekends and I would have liked to visit him, especially on the first Sunday when he was feeling apprehensive about his operation," she said. "As to the fact we're not getting free travel, I think it's disgusting. We really are being badly treated."

West Worcestershire MP Sir Michael Spicer, who called for the bus services to be set up in October, said he wanted the hospitals to keep their promise of providing direct links between the hospitals.

A spokesman for Worcestershire NHS Health Authority said they are still working on improving the links and are in discussion about introducing a voucher scheme between Worcester and Redditch.

He said: "But it's better than it was because the Worcester to Redditch journey used to take one and a half hours and now it's a direct link from the bus station to the hospital."