EUROPEAN doctors could be brought in to solve Bolton's shortage of GPs, a major NHS watchdog has revealed.

The town is the seventh worst in the country, with patients struggling to get appointments, according to the Commission for Health Improvement.

Wigan and Bolton Health Authority has come under scrutiny by the CHI who have been set up to look at major service failures for the Government.

It has revealed health bosses are looking at "the possibility of bringing in European doctors".

The CHI, which began the survey in October 2000, confirms Bolton has a doctor shortage with GPs struggling to cope with the extra service demands of the NHS.

The report shows that 42 per cent of local GPs were aged over 50-years-old on December 2000 and are facing retirement.

Bolton faces "a significant problem" with recruitment.

Wigan and Bolton has the seventh lowest proportion of GPs in the country, with 48 GPs per 100,000 people compared to an average of 57 per 100,000. There are 12 women GPs per 100,000 compared with 18 per 100,000 nationally, and a lower proportion of patients have access to a female GP.

Wigan and Bolton Health Authority is one of the first to be reviewed in the country.

Peter Homa, CHI chief executive, said: "The health authority is addressing some of the issues highlighted and an action plan will be produced.

"If the action plan is carried out, the quality of care patients receive in Wigan and Bolton will be further improved."

The 60-page report reveals there is a poor service to ethnic minorities, with many of the patients visiting their doctor in Bolton unable to speak English.

Ethnic communities reported poor access for women wishing to see a female GP.

The report reveals Bolton has the highest mortality rates for heart disease and has a high level of early deaths.

The report states: "Bolton and Wigan are in the most deprived 20 per cent of local authorities in England.

"Although the level of deprivation is similar in the two boroughs overall, deprivation in Bolton is concentrated in the central wards -- a third of the population lives in the most deprived 10 per cent of wards in England."

It revealed that Bolton is a leader in the take up for childhood immunisations, but is ranked in the middle for screening rates for cervical and breast cancer.

And it is at the bottom of the table for hospital admissions for asthma and diabetes.

The report states that seven per cent of practices in Bolton do not provide specific asthma care and six per cent do not provide specific diabetes care -- more than double the national average.

The health authority is currently drawing up an action plan which will be monitored by the Government.

Dr Tom Mann, health authority chief executive, said: "We welcome the report and support the recommendations. We will now work on the action plan and take this forward over the coming months."

A CHI report is due out on the Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust next month.