A NEW transport service has been devised to ferry people around during the coronavirus pandemic.

But council bosses say separate vehicles will be used for transporting Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients across Oldham.

The Alternative Transport Service is being provided by the council, Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Age UK, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) and Falck.

It will work alongside service already offered by the local authority in partnership with the British Red Cross and Falck and see patients taken from hospitals to their homes or care homes, residents transferred between care homes and between housing association properties.

Promoters of the scheme. which has seen the various partners offer either staffing, personal protective equipment or vehicles support, say it should offer a quicker alternative to existing provisions.

Cllr Zahid Chauhan, health and social care cabinet member, said: “This will help some of our most vulnerable people as they are discharged from health and social care settings and I am particularly proud of the disability access these extra vehicles have which is crucial for the quality of care we look to offer Oldham residents.

“We are particularly grateful to Age UK, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue and a number of volunteers for providing their time and resources. The vehicles will be will be fuelled from the councils Moorhey Street Depot.”

Mike Barker, the CCG's chief operating officer, added: "This is an example of true collaborative work, with multiple organisations and agencies across Oldham working together to create a service that will benefit so many patients. This service will enable patients to get back to their more permanent accommodation quicker, allowing them to focus on their continued recuperation.

"Close working relationships with other organisations have never been so important; this is something we have focused on prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Establishing these working relationships has resulted in us being able to identify services that are required and by sharing knowledge and working together, we have been able to quickly turn them around into a fully functional service.”