ROYAL Bolton Hospital is bracing itself for an increase in patients to a&e following the closure of the casualty ward at a neighbouring hospital.

Health chiefs are again urging people to consider whether they need to go to A&E in light of Chorley Hospital’s decision to replace its department with an urgent care centre.

The hospital is part of the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and bosses are blaming staffing issues, saying there is a national shortage of emergency medicine doctors and it cannot safely staff the rotas.

Heather Edwards, head of communications at the Royal Bolton Hospital, said: “We anticipate that our A&E may become busier with the temporary closure of Chorley’s accident and emergency department, however it is too early to quantify at this point.

“In general we would urge people to carefully consider whether they need to be seen at A&E. Many people who attend could have received advice from their GP or pharmacist.”

The increase comes just weeks after the hospital was forced to declare a “critical incident” status after 360 patients turned up to the department on Easter Monday.

This meant it was unable to deliver critical services.

Services are now back to normal at the department.

A spokesman for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: “North West Ambulance Services has protocols in place to ensure patients are transferred directly to the most appropriate service.

“From Monday, April 18, 999 ambulances will no longer take patients to Chorley Hospital, but will instead transfer patients directly to Royal Preston Hospital or the nearest appropriate emergency department.”

Comedian Dave Spikey, who was a biomedical scientist who worked in the haematology laboratory at the then Bolton General Hospital and then later at the Royal Bolton Hospital, is backing a campaign to put more funds into Lancashire NHS so Chorley Hospital's accident and emergency department can remain open.

He tweeted: "This can't happen. The world has gone mad. Chorley is a big town, it absolutely needs an A&E department. Lives are at risk."

Peter Mulcahy, head of service at North West Ambulance Service said: “We are working with Lancashire Teaching Hospitals and Chorley and South Ribble Clinical Commissioning group to mitigate the impact of this measure which will see ambulances travelling to other hospitals such as Preston, Wigan, Blackburn and Bolton instead of Chorley.

“We currently take many of our patients to urgent care centres across the North West. Chorley will provide this service during designated hours and as such we will still take some patients to Chorley.”