GOVERNMENT figures out today show that Bolton NHS patients suffer a high death rate following emergency surgery.

The Royal Bolton Hospital was among some of the worst in the country for patients dying 30 days after surgery.

Official figures show that 3,725 people per 100,000 of Bolton's population died within the 30 days limit -- double the national average.

The Government has released a list of figures for each health authority and hospital trust in the country.

It will use these indicators in the future to grade hospitals, merging in the controversial star rating system which left the town's hospital with the region's poorest grading -- just one star -- last September.

NHS chief executive Nigel Crisp said hospital bosses should look at the figures carefully to see where lessons could learned.

Bolton faired better on figures for the number of patients waiting on trolleys in the accident and emergency department.

Just 14 per cent of patients wait more than four hours for a bed, compared to a massive 82 per cent in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in South-east London.

The Government also says Bolton does not have a serious problem with long-term patients blocking beds, with a delayed discharge rate of just 0.8 per cent compared to 72 per cent in some other trusts.

But Bolton does have a high number of patients who are re-admitted to hospital as an emergency weeks after being discharged, sparking warnings that the NHS Trust could be discharging too early.

Bolton also continues to have a high death rate for people dying from malignant cancer, with 149 people per 100,000 aged under 75 dying from a tumour last year.