THE boss of Bolton's NHS Trust has warned that the service will struggle to meet the Government's target of treating patients in Accident and Emergency within four hours as hospitals are expected to come under increasing pressure in the winter months.

The trust is one of the health services in the country that currently meets the requirement to see 95 per cent of patients within the four-hour limit.

Figures for the second quarter of the year — from July to September - show the trust is on target. It treated 95 per cent of its 28,348 patients within the time limit, and took longer to treat 1,412 of those patients.

Data collected by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine shows that nationally, on average only 88 per cent of patients were being treated within the required four hours.

But staff are now bracing themselves for a rise in attendances as the cold weather descends on the country.

Last year some patients reported waiting for than 11 hours for a bed at the Royal Bolton Hospital's A&E department over the Christmas period.

Hospital bosses have pleaded with people thinking of going to A&E to consider if they need to go there or if they could wait to see a GP.

Andy Ennis, chief operating officer and Bolton NHS Trust, said the trust remained one of the top performers in Greater Manchester, but would struggle to meet the target during the Christmas period.

He said: “Although we achieved the 95 per cent target for quarter two it will be increasingly difficult to attain over the coming months with the additional pressures that winter brings and our teams are actively engaged in bringing our winter plans into operation. We are continually making improvements and looking at new ways of working to enable us to meet the A&E targets, however patient safety must always be our priority. Bolton remains one of the best performing health economies in Greater Manchester.”