WHEN newspaper headlines, nationally and locally, scream about shortages of health service cash and staff, it's a refreshing change to read about a medical venture that's so successful it is expanding.

But the success of Bolton Hospice has been happily chronicled in this newspaper for the past seven years, and, quite often, it has been to reveal a further step forward in this vital and comprehensive care service.

Such is the case in our story tonight, as the Hospice unveils its plans for a new £1.5 million Day Hospice. This not only represents a natural physical extension to the building off Chorley New Road but also a sensible addition to its services for seriously ill local people and their families.

The new Day Hospice is essential because the current arrangements for treating and helping patients at the Hospice while they continue to live productive lives in their own homes urgently needs to expand.

This extension is because the very caring Hospice staff have recognised that this is how patients themselves often need to be treated. That this is how they - and we use the word with some wonder, linked as it is to modern medical procedures - prefer to be treated.

We offer the Hospice this newspaper's sincere support in this project. And we hope that the people of Bolton will, as they have so often before, take this campaign to their hearts, and ensure that it results in success.

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