A LONG-AWAITED ward is to open at the Royal Bolton Hospital in January, along with a bigger medical assessment unit.

The hospital has also secured £660,000 to fund extra staff to ease the pressure on beds.

Hospital chief John Brunt is also negotiating for more money to open a second extra ward later in 2003.

These revelations follow the announcement that the hospital has been awarded two stars in this year's NHS performance ratings -- an improvement on last year's one star.

Mr Brunt said today: "I am delighted that Bolton has achieved two stars in this year's performance ratings. I think we were all surprised and very disappointed when we only got one star last year.

"It has been a very tough year since, but our staff have worked very hard and it is thanks to them that we have made such a wonderful improvement. We will be aiming for that top rating in the future and I believe that with the appropriate resources it is achievable."

The performance ratings revealed that the hospital achieved eight of nine key targets, including the length of time patients wait for treatment. The performance on two-week cancer waits for patients was one of the best in the North-west.

The hospital achieved the highest possible score for hospital cleanliness, environment, catering, and in a staff opinion survey. However, Bolton scored badly on clinical indicators, including death rates. The town had high numbers of deaths within 30 days of surgery and had too many emergency re-admissions for adults and children.

The hospital strongly disputes these findings, claiming a computer system error was to blame. But the hospital also did not achieve the key target for fewer cancelled operations.

A spokeswoman said: "Perhaps this was not surprising considering how busy we have been with emergency admissions, but we have greatly improved on last year.

"We have always said that there are certain categories in which it is difficult for us to score highly due to the general poor health of the local population and because of our capacity problems. We and our partners in the health and social services are working hard to address this problem."

NHS chiefs today said they were delighted with Bolton's success.

Hugh Lamont, a spokesman for the Directorate for Health and Social Care, said: "Bolton was very unlucky last year. The Trust narrowly missed out on getting two stars then, but it has improved performance and is now comfortably a two star trust."

Dr Kevin Snee, chief executive of Bolton Primary Care Trust, was also impressed with the hospital's success.

He said: "I am very pleased that Bolton Hospitals Trust has received its two star rating. Staff deserve credit for having achieved this through hard work under difficult circumstances. The hospital never deserved the one star rating it got last year."

Bolton South East MP Dr Brian Iddon said: "I'm absolutely delighted that the hospital has done so well. The staff have all worked hard and they deserve to be congratulated."