A PUBLIC meeting to discuss a Greater Manchester-wide healthcare review that could affect Bolton is taking place tonight.

The meeting, in The Albert Halls, in Bolton town centre, from 6pm to 8pm, will discuss the Healthier Together proposals.

Health unions, concerned that plans will lead to A&E departments closing across the region, including the Royal Bolton Hospital’s, have started a campaign against Healthier Together.

In December, hundreds of people attended a rally in Bolton to protest over two separate issues — job cuts at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust and the Healthier Together review. But Dr Raj Patel, medical director of NHS Greater Manchester, said the vision has been “misinterpreted”, that no decisions had been made and that no district hospitals would be changing.

The organisation has said the district general hospitals system is outdated and needs to change and are working with the region’s 12 Clinical Commissioning Groups to create a new model. A consultation is due to start in the spring.

l To follow the meeting live, visit theboltonnews.co.

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