HEALTH chiefs in Bolton are making headway in the battle against breast cancer.

They are ensuring everyone referred for specialist treatment by their GP has no more than a two week wait.

But Bolton Hospitals Trust fared less well in terms of overall waiting list figures which increased by 2.7 per cent between September and October.

The number of people waiting for 12 months for treatment increasing by more than half.

In September, the Trust had 4, 778 people on the waiting list rising by a further 131 in October.

For the same period, the Trust had 13 people waiting for a year. In October, this increased by seven -- a 53 per cent rise.

Anne Schenk, Bolton Hospitals Trust director of service development, said the increase was a "blip".

She said: "Looking at waiting list figures a month at a time is not as helpful as looking at the figures over a longer period.

"The figures for October were affected because we had a high number of emergency admissions and some waiting list cases had to be postponed.

"The figures we have for November show an improvement and we have appointed more consultants to address this.

"We are also offering some patients the facility to have treatment at private hospitals on the NHS as a temporary measure."

In terms of breast cancer treatment, figures released by the NHS Executive show that, nationally between July and September, 97 per cent of women were seen by a specialist within two weeks of being referred by their GP.

But Bolton Hospitals Trust fares better than the national average. From July to September, all 110 referred women in Bolton were seen within two weeks.

The figures show Bolton Trust is now hitting its targets under the Government's new NHS mission statement and have been welcomed by public health minister Yvette Cooper.

She said: "For those with suspected cancer, waiting to see a specialist is a very anxious time. Step-by-step, we will build a faster and more responsive service."