Inquiry into Westhoughton’s inadequate health facilities

Councillor Arthur Price at vacant land on the Summerfields estate which was designated for a health facility

Liberal Democrat councillors have launched an inquiry into Westhoughton’s ailing health facilities.

Westhoughton town councillors said residents of the town were concerned about their ability to access GP and hospital appointments, the length of time it takes to get an appointment and getting a place with an NHS dentist.

They have asked local health leaders at the Bolton Health and Care Partnership, which is the local board from the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership, about health provision in Westhoughton. The ICP is a partnership made up of the different providers of health and care in Bolton, including hospital and community health services, GP practices, adult social care, mental health services, the police, community housing and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.

Westhoughton South Liberal Democrat councillor David Wilkinson said: “We want to better understand the capacity of GPs, dentists and the hospital to understand how able they are to meet the growing health needs of the population of Westhoughton.

“The national problems of chronic staff shortages and under funding are clearly playing a role in the issues faced locally, but we are keen to hear from local health leaders about how they see the situation from their perspective.”

Town councillors were concerned about the impact of new housing developments on NHS services.

Councillor Arthur Price, who represents Westhoughton North ward, said: “One of the big concerns is the impact that lots of new houses are having on local services and that planning applications often have no provision for healthcare. We previously saw developers for the Summerfields estate commit to a doctors surgery many years ago, and yet the land is still vacant. We’ve since been promised healthcare from Peel as part of the Hulton Estate development but it seems that we’re promised a lot with very little ever delivered.”