Bolton A&E department

Recent stories in the press have raised questions about the future of Royal Bolton Hospital's Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department.

The “Healthier Together” review being led by NHS Greater Manchester on behalf of the area's twelve Clinical Commissioning Groups, including Bolton, is considering what ‘best care’ for patients may look like in a range of clinical areas provided in most district general hospitals, in the community and in primary care.

There are nine areas of health under review including urgent and emergency care. NHS Greater Manchester are stressing that this review is clinician led. A public consultation is due to begin in Spring 2013.

Royal Bolton Hospital's A&E Department is the second busiest in Greater Manchester, dealing with over 110,000 patients in 2010. It serves the population of Bolton and surrounding districts with an estimated population of 330,000, including over 20% of cases which come from outside the Bolton PCT area.

People in Bolton value their local hospital and their local A&E department – they expect it to be there for them when they need it. In an emergency they do not want to face the potential risks involved of having to travel to an A&E department in another town or city e.g. Wigan or Salford.

It is vital that Bolton has its own fully functioning A&E department.

I will urge people in Bolton to respond to the consultation when it begins in order to show the strength of feeling on this issue.

I will fight to keep Bolton's A&E department open.