BOLTON residents have backed massive changes to the way the health service is organised, according to new research.

A huge public consultation was undertaken to collect opinions on changes proposed by the Healthier Together programme, which will see the biggest shake-up of NHS services across Greater Manchester in decades.

More than 29,000 people, including almost 1,500 Bolton residents and organisations, took part in the consultation over a three month period.

Just over 60 per cent of Bolton responders agreed that it would be better to provide specialist care at a smaller number of hospitals, while almost 80 per cent supported the idea that doctors and nurses should work in teams that provide care across specialist hospitals.

However, the consultation's critics say the response to the exercise was poor - with less than one per cent of the borough's population taking part.

Bolton Healthwatch chairman Jack Firth said the response was "mediocre at best".

Across Greater Manchester nearly three quarters of people agreed with changing the healthcare system, by reorganising hospital services to meet quality and safety standards.

Health bosses will gather in Manchester today to discuss the first wave of results from the consultation, which was independently verified by external company Opinion Research Services (ORS).

Chairman of the ORS, Dale Hall, said they were grateful to everyone who took part in the exercise.

He added: “The consultation was not a ‘tick-box’ exercise.

“The balance of opinion is being reviewed in detail and people’s arguments, evidence and reasons are being examined before any decisions are taken.”

Under the proposals, clinicians have proposed that hospitals work together in a "single service", in which shared teams of doctors and senior nurses work together across multiple sites.

The Royal Bolton hospital is in the running to become a "super hospital", offering specialist surgery.

Details of which hospitals will be preferred for specialist status will be revealed in the new year.

Leila Williams, director of NHS service transformation in Greater Manchester, said she was pleased that people recognised the need for "urgent changes" to improve services for the population.

She added: “We will now move on to analyse the replies in more detail, including looking at how hospitals should be organised across Greater Manchester.

“The local lead GPs from Greater Manchester and the surrounding areas will discuss and make decisions over the coming months, based on all the information we have gathered via the consultation, and clinical evidence about what is best for Greater Manchester as a whole.“