Urgent care services in Bury are set to receive more than £300,000 of government funding ahead of "expected winter pressures".

NHS Greater Manchester announced that boroughs across the region would benefit from a £40m government fund to support urgent and emergency care resilience.

In its latest winter briefing, the trust said Bury will receive £383,179 to support emergency care after NHS England identified the Greater Manchester NHS Foundation Trust as one of the integrated care system experiencing the greatest challenges.

Boroughs across Greater Manchester will receive a share of the funding, including Bolton which will receive £652,199 and Oldham which will get £526,579.

Mark Fisher, chief executive of NHS Greater Manchester, said: “We welcome the announcement this week that Greater Manchester will benefit from over £6m of investment to help try and ease expected winter pressures on the NHS and the wider health system.

“This national investment will strengthen services already in place and be used to help get people home quicker, and for additional social care provision.

“It also means where appropriate, people can receive the care they need without needing to be admitted to hospital.”

The latest figures revealed by the Bury Integrated Care Partnership state that the number of people attending A&E in the borough remains high and has not seen the usual seasonal drop.

It added that the number of patients experiencing 12-hour waits had increased.

The number of Bury patients who attended A&E in October this year increased slightly from last year, rising from 6,843 in 2022 to 6,952.

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The number of patients experience 12-hour waits from arrival increase in October to 451 from 417 in September.

This is a significant decrease from October 2022, during which 748 patients waited 12 hours or more for A&E treatment.

A&E attendances for mental health conditions have stayed static in the last few months, however these increased in October to 205 from 177 in September.

Mr Fisher said: “Locally, across the NHS and social care, seasonal pressures including cold and icy weather and winter sickness have contributed to a challenged week.

"The cold and damp weather can worsen existing health problems, increase the risk of a fall, and make us more vulnerable to respiratory winter illnesses. Keeping warm, both indoors and outdoors can help prevent colds, flu, and more serious health problems.”

Mr Fisher also warned of further industrial action by junior doctors set to take place from 7am on December 20 to 7am on December 23, and 7am on January, 3 to 7am on January 9.

He added: “This week further strikes by junior doctors were confirmed for dates in December and January.

“We will do our best to minimise disruption and as with previous rounds of industrial action, our priorities will be ensuring patient safety and making sure people know how and where to get care and support from during strikes.”