Kieran Lamb's List: The Bolton News 02/09

HEALTH services in Bolton are on their way to becoming world class, a new report says.

NHS Bolton is a year into the ground-breaking health programme, World Class Commissioning, which looks at how things are done around the world to help primary care trusts implement the best services for their patients

A controversial medical records scheme, which is being piloted in Bolton and involves putting patient details into a central online system, has a positive future, according to NHS Bolton.

The trust says it is pleased with how the Summary Care Records scheme is developing.

TEENAGE pregnancy rates in Bolton are bucking the national trend.

The number of under-18s falling pregnant in the town in 2007 fell — while the national average rose.

However, the rate in Bolton is still higher than the average across England.

FURTHER to several letters about the proposed smoking ban in the grounds of the Royal Bolton Hospital, I pose the following questions.

Under which legislation is the ban to be brought in and enforced?

TEENAGERS from a Bolton school are starring in an NHS DVD which will be seen across the UK.

Pupils from Canon Slade School, which has special status as a performing arts college, have been involved in the project to promote the Summary Care Record scheme.

A VITAL medical facility is to get a new £1 million base which will free up hundreds of hospital beds every year.

Bolton Community Unit (BCU), on the Royal Bolton Hospital site, treats and arranges future care for patients who have been to the accident and emergency department but do not need to be admitted to a ward.

NURSES and other dedicated front-line staff in must get angry and frustrated because the shortfall in their numbers does not allow them to give patients all the care and attention they need.

The writer of the letter Anger over NHS pay rise for councillor (Letters, February 20) paints a clear picture of the situation. But the £18,500 pay rise for Cliff Morris is a mere drop in the ocean when compared with the massive misuse of funding that seems apparent throughout the NHS. In a letter on these pages, back in February, 2003, I highlighted the trend in the NHS of spending ever-more money on admin jobs.

THE number of women in Bolton booking tests for cervical cancer has risen.

Medical centres say it is because of the high-profile battle against the disease of reality TV star Jade Goody.

The 27-year-old recently learned her cancer is terminal and was told she may have just weeks to live.

THE first patients are being treated at a new state-of-the-art mobile clinic — set up in the car park of a DIY store.

Hundreds of people will be seen at the clinic in a bid to further reduce waiting times and improve access to a range of minor treatments.

The clinic, located at B&Q at Bolton Gate Retail Park for the next seven years, was launched yesterday (Tuesday