NURSES in their late 60s are being asked to work extra shifts by Bolton Hospitals Trust to save money, a Euro MP has claimed. Greater Manchester West Euro MP Gary Titley says he made the shock discovery when he was treated at Bolton General Hospital following a heart scare last month. Mr Titley said: "I was very surprised to discover that one of the nurses looking after me was 69 years old and I believe she was being asked to work a double shift.

"That is no way to run a health service. In no way am I suggesting that the nurse was not capable of doing the job.

"But it does strike me that they are taking the easy and cheap way out relying on the nursing bank," he added.

Mr Titley claimed the hospital was using nursing banks for long shifts as a money saving measure instead of investing in more staff nurses to share the workload.

He added: "Getting staff in from a bank means they don't have to pay for full holiday pay, sickness pay and other benefits."

Hospitals Trust director of nursing John Pettigrew denied that the nurse worked a double shift.

He said: "The nurse did work two sessions in the same day - but she had a proper break in between, so it was not a double shift."

He added that no one worked more than 10 hours above their standard 37 and a half hour week.

And he said the hospital used staff from the nursing bank primarily to cover sickness periods and gaps between full-time staff leaving and new recruits arriving.

"It is not unusual for nurses to stay on the bank until 70, the standard cut-off age," he said.

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