MULTI-million pound health centres are planned for Bolton.

It is hoped a total of £26.5 million will be spent opening a showcase health centre with five satellite centres linked to it in East Bolton.

Family doctors, nurse practitioners, chiropodists, mother and baby clinics and a pharmacy will all be under one roof at the centre, which will be built on Breightmet Fold Lane, Breightmet.

The scheme will triple the amount of space assigned to health services in East Bolton.

The other satellite centres are likely to be at Leverhulme Park, Withins School, Hall i'th' Wood, Tonge Fold and Tonge Moor.

Some will be housed in new buildings while others will be renovated.

Plans are to be presented to the Bolton Primary Care Trust Board this month for approval but are currently at the outline planning stage.

The scheme was drawn up by the Bolton PCT and East Bolton Regeneration Programme.

A PCT spokesman said: "After discussions and consultation with people in East Bolton, it's good to see plans emerging for modernising health care accommodation in the area.

"The proposal for a Primary Care Resource Centre and several smaller centres would enable us to provide a wide range of services and support our drive to make health services more convenient and accessible.

"The Primary Care Trust Board will be discussing the proposals next month with a view to submitting a bid for approval for the necessary expenditure."

Eileen McNulty, communications manager of East Bolton Regeneration Programme, said: "We carried out a consultation with local people three years ago and what came out more than anything was that they wanted a new health centre as well as local access too."

The PCT smoking cessation team will move into the Hall i'th' Wood centre, where smoking rates are the highest in Bolton.

The Bolton Primary Care Trust has pledged more than £1 million a year to run the centres.

A presentation of the PCT's intentions was given to Bolton Council's Health, Overview and Scrutiny Committee last week.

Chairman Margaret Clare said: "The centres can only be a good thing but I would like to see them rolled out to other areas in the future.

"There are such variations between doctors surgeries; in some you can get your heart tested and blood tests done but if a surgery doesn't offer that, the patient has to go to the hospital.

"It's two bus rides from Breightmet to the hospital so it would be much easier for everyone, including the doctors, if they are sent to a local surgery.

"To treat minor injuries at such places would also help the Accident and Emergency department at the hospital."

next to the Alastair Ross Health Centre,

"It would be easy to just do what we thought was needed so it's nice to see the scheme coming along."