HEALTH watchdogs say it is unacceptable that accident and emergency patients at the Royal Bolton Hospital face long waiting times for a bed.

This is despite results of a snapshot survey showing trolley wait times of less than four hours.

Bolton's threatened Community Health Council says it supports the hospital's campaign for an extra £7 million in funding to ease pressure on beds.

The local CHC took part in the annual nationwide "casualty watch" survey and revealed the best results at the hospital in years.

Some hospitals in the country were keeping patients waiting more than 90 hours for a bed.

In Bolton, the longest wait for patients after the decision was made to admit them was just over four hours.

They just missed the Government target, which is no longer than four hours.

John Seddon, chair of Bolton CHC, said: "On the day, the Royal Bolton Hospital was dealing quickly with patients who came to A&E. But there was a hold up after the decision to admit them was taken.

"It is unacceptable that people have to wait so long for a bed when they are sick."

He added: "The situation highlights the need for extra funding for the hospital so that more beds can be provided."

Bolton CHC was one of more than 150 taking part in a national survey of waiting times at accident and emergency units, organised by the Association of Community Health Councils for England and Wales at 4.30pm on Monday, May 20.

The longest waiting times for patients in accident and emergency at the Royal Bolton Hospital were for beds after the decision to admit them had been made.

Eleven patients were waiting for beds. Five of these patients had been waiting for more than two hours for a bed and of these, three had been waiting for more than four hours.

The longest waiting times were in Aintree NHS Trust with one 90 year old woman waiting 95 hours for a bed after falling and suffering pain to her hip, according to the Aintree CHC.

A spokesman for the Royal College of Nursing said: "Today's survey fails to explain fully the reasons for the A&E patient waits and ignores the changes already in place to address this issue. It is important to see the total picture." Previous surveys in Bolton have uncovered long waits in accident and emergency.

Last autumn, the Bolton Evening News revealed queues of patients were waiting up to 12 hours on trolleys in A&E.