IN the past three years, we've seen some real changes in the NHS in Bolton.

The A&E Department at the Royal Bolton Hospital, for example, has been modernised, and the hospital has been given new replacement X-ray equipment for breast cancer screening.

But I know from speaking to many people -- patients and NHS staff -- that there are things people wanted done differently.

So, when the Government announced its big cash injection for health this year, we asked for ideas on how that money could make a real difference.

BEN readers took part in that consultation.

The result is the national plan. Over the next 10 years, it will mean not just a bigger NHS, but a better one.

There will be more doctors and nurses and more therapy staff. There will be new hospitals, extra beds and face-lifts for doctors' surgeries.

Waiting times for treatment will be cut. Cancer and heart disease care will be expanded, and there will be a new 'modern matron' system to make sure wards are cleaner and hospital food tastes better.

This isn't a prescription for a quick fix. This is a long-term investment and reform to ensure the health of the NHS well into the future.

But make no mistake, as this Government is building the NHS up, so the Tories would break it up.

For 18 years, they let hospitals crumble, waiting lists soar, and nurse training numbers fall.

It would be business as usual if they were allowed to get their hands on it again, only this time they have proposed a revolution in private health care which can only mean one thing -- a two-tier NHS with a fast track for those who can pay and a slow service for those who can't.

This is why I'm urging everyone who uses the NHS in Bolton to sign up to this plan.

Over the next few weeks, many of you will receive leaflets in which you can pledge your support to the NHS plan, and I also have a petition in my office which you are welcome to sign.

If you share my belief in a free NHS, and if you don't want to see the Tories take us back to the days of paying just to see a GP, then sign up now.

Ruth Kelly

MP for Bolton West