HEALTH ministers have approved a radical shake-up of Bolton's health system, creating a new trust with an annual £203 million budget.

The move signals the end of the Wigan and Bolton Health Authority which will be replaced by a Primary Care Trust (PCT).

The new Bolton-based trust will be in charge of the purse strings for the crisis-hit Royal Bolton Hospital, which is facing a £3 million deficit this year, and the town's family doctors, who are threatening to quit the NHS because of an ever increasing workload.

The Government will decide who will head the trust over the next 14 days.

The Wigan and Bolton Health Authority will be disbanded in April 2002 in a move intended to improve decisions at local level. It is part of a nationwide revamp by the Government of the NHS.

The new trust will control local GPs, community health services and hospitals.

It will also replace the existing primary care groups in Bolton North East, Bolton South East and Bolton West, which are responsible for monitoring local health services in their areas.

A separate national consultation exercise is still under way about creating a Strategic Health Authority to replace the Regional Health Authority which controls Government cash handouts to the health authorities.

The Government says the Bolton trust will give the town a stronger voice over issues such as deprivation, and give patients better services.

Bolton's PCT will cover a population of 276,000 people and the budget in its first year, starting next April, will be £203 million.

The trust will supervise the work carried out by 141 local GPs -- already unhappy with Government funding and under stress as they bear the brunt of long hospital waiting lists -- providing services from 57 practices.

Legislation is also going through which will give the PCT control over dentists, pharmacists and opticians in the town.

Tom Mann, chief executive of Wigan and Bolton Health Authority, said: "This is a wonderful opportunity to improve health and health services.

"The PCT will also work more closely with social services, other local authority departments, voluntary organisations and other partners to improve public health."

The first task of the PCT will be to set up three local health groups, which are expected to have a high ratio of local family doctors on the committees.

Unions have told the BEN that they have been assured that there will be no job losses at the health authority.

However, many health workers are facing massive change as departments under go radical restructuring.