SOMETHING must be done.

Today's story about how a grandmother waited in a recovery room of an operating theatre at the Royal Bolton Hospital until a bed was found for her in Huddersfield, highlights once again the parlous state of the Health Service.

Mrs Gwen Charnock is recovering now. But sadly, as we reported recently, another Bolton woman who was transferred from Hope Hospital died in a hospital 35 miles away.

Transferring ill patents to hospitals miles away from where they are treated should not happen again. But unless the various health authorities act immediately it will.

On another worrying issue, we report tonight that Bolton's accident and emergency unit needs at least eight more doctors and 13 more nurses to cope with the rising numbers of patients.

It is not just the management of the Royal Bolton Hospital saying this. An independent external audit report into the funding and staffing levels at the hospital reveals a chronic shortage of staff which is pushing the department to the limit.

It is up to the health authority to bang on the Prime Minister's door - literally if necessary - and demand more resources for all hospital departments.

It is not the hospitals' faults that situations like that involving Mrs Charnock arise.

It may not be the fault of Wigan and Bolton Health Authority either, but it is certainly up to them to put it right. And there is no time to waste. The authority should act immediately.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.