THE Accident and Emergency unit at the Royal Bolton Hospital will come under close scrutiny from health watchdogs next week.
Bolton Community Health Council, will be putting the stopwatch on waiting times in casualty as part of a nationwide study of A&E units.
John Seddon, chairman of Bolton CHC said: "Casualty Watch is an excellent example of the great work that CHCs do.
"In the past, the Bolton results have shown how under pressure the Bolton A&E department is and we do not expect anything different this year."
The survey is organised by the Association of Community Health Councils in England and Wales (ACHCEW).
In 1998, the Bolton group discovered one patient had waited nine hours in casualty for treatment.
The CHC has been demanding more money for Bolton's A&E unit since 1997 after discovering that many patients in casualty were from outside the borough.
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