GP surgeries in Bolton will be open later if multi-million pound investment plans are approved.

The £3 million government funding would allow all practices to open between 8am and 6.30pm on Monday to Friday, whereas currently some surgeries only open for half days.

Health chiefs say the extra money is a ‘game changer’ as the service comes under increasing pressure from the demands of an ageing population, stretched budgets and stressed-out doctors.

If approved, the cash will be invested in primary care in Bolton across the town’s 50 GP surgeries, employing more doctors and district nurses.

There will also be more funding to offer better screening for health conditions, so they are diagnosed earlier, and reducing the waste in prescribing medicines that aren’t needed.

Su Long, chief officer at NHS Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said the funding could see an extra 61,000 appointments with GPs across the borough ever year — reducing the amount of people going to the Royal Bolton Hospital.

She said: “We do lots of amazing and brilliant things, but the cost we expect to spend goes up and up every year.

“As the population is living longer, we are going to have to find better ways of dealing with their healthcare needs and stop people ending up in hospital because they can’t cope.

“A study showed that more than 50 per cent of elderly people in hospital at any time probably didn’t need to be admitted – that’s really powerful.

“This investment is really exciting for Bolton, as we’re seen to be at the forefront of improvements in general practice.”

More work will be done to attract doctors to come and work in general practice in Bolton, she added.

The plans will be discussed at the board meeting of the board of the CCG this Friday, pending a final sign-off from outside commissioning bodies.

If accepted, the money could be in place as early as January.

Ms Long added: “£3 million is not a massive increase, but we think it is a ‘game changer’ amount of investment because it is enough to expect some very high standards from it.”