Access to West Yorkshire hospitals by public transport has deteriorated significantly in the last three years, according to new statistics.

Transport chiefs are trying to diagnose the reason for the worsening performance and have provided various explanations, including the impact of bus service cuts, increased traffic on roads around hospitals such as Bradford Royal Infirmary, and restructured timetables.

The figures reveal that transport providers are a long way short of meeting a mandatory target for accessibility to hospitals set out in the second West Yorkshire Local Transport Plan.

The target states that 89.5 per cent of households without access to a car should be within 30 minutes of a hospital by public transport by 2011.

In 2006/07, a total of 78 per cent of households in West Yorkshire met that criteria, but that figure has now fallen to 70.5 per cent.

At present, BRI features on five bus routes and St Luke’s is served by seven bus services, whereas Calderdale Royal Hospital, the best-served in West Yorkshire, features on 12 routes.

Bradford councillor Chris Greaves, deputy chairman of transport authority Metro, which complied the figures, said the situation was “not ideal, particularly as hospitals charge a fortune to park.” He said: “It didn’t help when First cut services.”

Coun Greaves said Metro had tried to improve access to hospitals by subsidising certain routes, but said it would cost far to much to “plug all the gaps.”

The new Quality Bus Contract Scheme would give Metro greater control over service levels, including routes and frequencies, he said.

A spokesman for the First bus company said: “We await the chance to read this report and will fully digest the comments made in it.”

John Mawdesley, of Bradford Older People’s Alliance, said: “The situation has changed over the last 12 months with the reduction of bus services by operators hit by the recession.”

e-mail: will.kilner@telegraphandargus.co.uk