A MOMENTOUS decision on the region's Healthier Together plans means the Royal Bolton Hospital now has a one in four chance of being selected as a so-called 'super hospital' — but what does this mean for Bolton and what will happen if the hospital is not chosen? Tui Benjamin explains.

LEADERS from Greater Manchester’s 12 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) this week made a decision that will affect our healthcare for generations to come.

In the first of two crunch meetings on the Healthier Together plans, they voted unanimously in favour of splitting the region’s 10 hospitals into four ‘single sites’.

This means local hospitals will share services with a specialist hospital, with patients from all of the linked sites travelling to the specialist centre for certain procedures such as stomach — known as general — and high-risk emergency surgery.

CCG chiefs also had the choice of a five-site option — something the public preferred, but which would have taken to longer to implement. But they decided there was little clinical benefit in this.

A second meeting will now decide where the specialist centres will be located.

With Salford, Oldham and central Manchester are already earmarked as likely options, Bolton, Wigan, Stockport and Wythenshawe are all vying for the fourth spot.

The decision to create four sites means bosses at Royal Bolton Hospital will now be facing the prospect that their ‘super hospital’ plans may not come to fruition.

Geographically, with the north of the city already covered by Salford and Oldham, it looks most likely Stockport – not Bolton – will be named the fourth centre.

Regardless of which choice is made, the Royal Bolton Hospital will still have an A&E department and will carry out full acute medical care and planned surgery.

Staff will be pooled across the specialist and local hospitals, working together so emergency surgery can be carried out seven days a week.

It is hoped this will improve survival chances for the 50 patients who come into the region’s A&E departments in need of specialist surgery each day. It is hoped this will save 300 lives a year.

Pooling medical teams will also allow staff to share expertise between different sites and move patients between hospitals quickly.

While travelling times for family members will be slightly longer, the idea is that care for patients once they are in hospital will be much faster.

Things like prioritised car-parking, accessible public transport information and colour-coding of different hospital areas across the sites will help vulnerable groups — such as the disabled, and elderly people — adjust to the changes and to unfamiliar surroundings.

Healthier Together was launched in response to patients in Greater Manchester being most likely to die in the evening and at weekend, because of hospital staffing shortages.

Health chiefs believe the multi-million pound programme could see Greater Manchester go from experiencing some of the worst healthcare in the country to some of the best.

A final decision on where the fourth 'super hospital' will be based will be made on July 15.