FURTHER symptoms of the ailing NHS can easily be diagnosed by the plea for more cash to build extra wards at the revamped Royal Bolton Hospital. But this time it seems to be a case of the agonies at one hospital under intense pressure being made worse by the planned closure of another.

If Bury General Hospital's eventual shut-down results in the feared massive influx of patients from the Radcliffe area to the Royal Bolton, services and staff there face the prospect of being completely overwhelmed. It makes no sense at all to try and create state-of-the art hospital facilities in Bolton - and then expect them to try and also provide the services that for years have been dispensed by Bury General.

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