IT is Bolton's longest-running hospital group -- responsible for health long before the Royal Bolton Hospital even came into existence.

But chief executive of Bolton's Hospital Saturday, Peter Green, admits that he would not want the job of taking over the town's crisis-hit hospital.

As the group celebrates its 125th anniversary in July, Mr Green said: "The NHS is doing the best that it can with the resources it has available.

"But it will never meet the needs or the expectations of local people.

"There's talk of bringing in outside voluntary organisations to manage hospitals -- but I would not like the job. It would be an impossible task."

The Hospital Saturday, with more than 16,500 members, raised funds to build the Royal Infirmary.

It successfully managed the town's busy hospital until 1948, the start of the NHS.

Mr Green said: "Unfortunately, we have no records of any of the management issues of the hospital dating back to that time. I suspect these records were given to the Royal Infirmary staff.

"However, I doubt that we would have had waiting lists or people queuing in casualty departments for a bed. It would be very interesting to compare then and now.

"Obviously, the needs of the population back then varied to those of the people of today. The expectations are now vastly different. Treatment is more clinical."

But Mr Green added: "There was always a fear that the NHS would not meet the promises and expectations. We knew that we could still offer a service to Bolton people."

The non-profit making organisation, with an annual turnover of £850,000, struggled to find a role once the NHS made it redundant.

They opted to provide low cost health insurance for many of Bolton's low income families unable to afford private health care costs.

Mr Green said: "We are still accountable to our members and have a large voluntary committee to keep an eye on what is going on with the funds.

"We provide a lot of money to charities and towards hospital causes. We still have strong ties with the hospital."

To celebrate their milestone year, the Hospital Saturday, based on Silverwell Street, will make 125 donations of £125.