A NEW medical training centre at Royal Bolton Hospital would bring huge benefits, but it would not be the only specialist facility at the Minerva Road site.

Its maternity service is a “super centre of excellence” providing care for more that 6,000 women every year. Staff pride themselves on the individual care each woman and family receives and promote a philosophy of “normal and natural labour and childbirth”.

For those who need more specialised or complex care a medical team of 15 experienced consultants ensure women have “the best birthing experience possible”.

Meanwhile, its neonatal intensive care unit is one of three centres of excellence within Greater Manchester, providing specialist care to sick and premature babies.

The highly skilled team provides family-centred care, intended to ensure a positive experience. The unit provides care for Bolton families as well as serving Greater Manchester and other areas when required.

And a new £2.3m endoscopy unit means that hundreds more patients a year are now able to have diagnostic tests for bowel and other gastrointestinal cancers.

A further sum of nearly £1m was spent on new medical equipment and new staff

The unit now has four scoping rooms where it previously had three split across the hospital site.

It works closely with the hospital’s gastroenterology department, which is a recognised world leader in the care and treatment of its patients.

This is especially so for those with alcohol-related diseases and digestive disorders.

It also cares for patients with conditions ranging from indigestion, ulcer and abdominal pain to liver, pancreas and colitis.

The Churchill Unit provides chemotherapy and other anti-cancer treatments on Mondays and Wednesdays, while the mobile chemotherapy unit sees patients on Fridays.

Manchester’s The Christie, one of the largest cancer treatment centres in Europe, provides consultant-led anti-cancer clinics at the hospital, and treatment is delivered by chemotherapy nurses employed by the Royal Bolton.

And there is also the trauma and orthopaedic department, which provides a range of musculoskeletal services, from orthopaedic medicine to complex surgery.

It has established a centre of excellence with a group of 11 consultants providing general trauma services and specialisation in key areas.