HEALTH watchdogs are concerned about a 24- hour GP service in Bolton.

The service will operate from Lombard House, at the junction of Chorley Old and Chorley New Road, and will be an emergency consultation centre.

It is aimed at reducing the pressure on family doctors who are called out more and more at night and who are becoming worried about the number of "inappropriate" calls.

Mike Ruane, Wigan and Bolton Health Authority chief executive, said: "This service is in no way intended to replace the GP out-of-hours service which has operated very successfully in Bolton for almost 20 years. It is intended only to complement it.

"If a person is able to visit the centre they will be asked to do so."

But Mike Chapman, community health council chairman, was unconvinced that spending Government cash on such a centre was the best way forward.

"I have yet to be convinced that patients actually want to go out and seek medical help when they are feeling unwell.

"Among my colleagues across country there's a great deal of concern about this type of facility. This is a major change in service and I think it needs to be carefully looked at."

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