WOMEN are being forced to wait more than three months to see breast cancer specialists at the Royal Bolton Hospital, new figures have revealed.

Patients in the town who want to make non-urgent appointments to see experts have to wait longer than anyone else in the North-west.

At the neighbouring Fairfield Hospital in Bury, the wait is less than a week, according to the report.

However, the Royal Bolton Hospital deals with more than 5,000 patients, compared with just 800 at the smaller unit in Bury. This is because it has become a centre of excellence over the years.

The figures come from a report by Dr Foster, an independent company founded by research journalists and healthcare professionals. Patients are usually referred to a hospital doctor by their GP. Some patients, such as those aged between 50 and 70 and those with a family history of breast cancer, are fast-tracked. However, many face an anxious wait to see a specialist.

Steve Ashworth, service development manager of surgical services at the Royal Bolton Hospital, said: "We are well aware that there is a long wait and we are not happy about it, but we are taking steps to deal with this."

These include using specialist breast cancer GPs who will see patients before they go to a hospital-based consultant, and employing a hospital doctor, who is at a level lower than that of a consultant, to ease the workload and run nurse-led clinics. A Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust spokesman said: "The Bolton Breast Screening Unit has a reputation for excellence and that is why we have such a high demand in Bolton. We do everything we can to keep the waits down.

"We realise that waiting times have been going up, but we must stress that all those patients marked as urgent by their GP are seen within two weeks."

A spokesman for Cancer Research UK said: "Long delays clearly increase anxiety for women and the Government has recommended that no patient should have to wait more than four weeks for any form of treatment.

"We hope the health authority will examine its processes and make improvements where possible."

Of the 13 North-west hospitals listed, Steppinghill Hospital, Stockport, sees a similar number of patients as Bolton, but only has a two week wait for non-urgent referrals.

Hospitals in the North-west and the average wait, in weeks, for non-urgent referrals:

Royal Bolton Hospital ... 11

Fairfield General Hospital, Bury ... 0

Leighton Hospital, Crewe ... 2

Macclesfield District General Hospital ... 3

Trafford General Hospital, Manchester ... 6

Withington Hospital, Manchester ... 10

North Manchester General Hospital ... 4

Royal Oldham Hospital ... 2

Hope Hospital, Salford ... 8

Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport ... 2

Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, Wigan ... 4