A KEY health service is back on track after struggling over the winter months.

Figures presented to a recent meeting of Bury Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) showed that the borough's out-of-hours service was underperforming before Christmas.

The level of patient satisfaction for the Bury and Rochdale Doctors on Call service (BARDOC) was at 59 per cent in December, compared with an average of 72 per cent all year round.

Latest statistics reveal matters have improved.

BARDOC's medical director Dr Zahir Mohammed said: "In January, 73 per cent of patients who responded said they would recommend our service.

"In February, the figure was 100 per cent and in March it was 98 per cent."

He added: "Every part of the NHS has been under huge pressure this winter, and BARDOC has been no exception.

"At some points in December, we were answering over 50 per cent more calls than in the previous year, and overall demand was up 37 per cent over Christmas.

"This kind of increase in demand puts enormous pressure on any service, and we took a range of actions to make sure we were able to meet demand as far as possible.

"Often we see a link between our patient experience results and how long people have to wait to be seen. Sometimes when it's busier, people end up waiting longer than they expected. We know it's frustrating, especially when you're not feeling well.

"However to be safe, we give priority to urgent cases, poorly children and so on, and our staff always try to explain why there are any delays."