AN EMERGENCY health care service is celebrating a major milestone.

Bury born and bred BARDOC has turned 21 – and is now one of Britain’s longest-serving local out-of-hours emergency health care providers.

It was formed by GP’s and the then Bury and Rochdale Health Authority in 1996 and is now a Community Benefits Society.

BARDOC serves 187,000 Bury patients by answering calls within 60 seconds and identifies which cases need routine help and which might be deemed life threatening emergencies.

Providing dental and health out-of-hours care and vital support within surgeries and hospitals, BARDOC kept 6,233 patients out of emergency and urgent care units in Bury, Bolton and Rochdale between December 2017 and May 2017.

All of which is a far cry from the days before BARDOC when, says founding director Dr Kumar Kotegaonkar MBE: “There had been no work and life balance for GPs and the doctor was cuffed to their visiting bag.”

Dr Kotegaonkar, now honorary president of BARDOC said: “The responsibility of 24-hour care used to be with the GP and smaller surgeries were always having to look round for cover.

"We needed the respite to be able to continue our commitment to our practices and make sure practising medicine was a joy.”

Initially, 70 doctors from Bury formed BARDOC and were soon joined by 35 more from Rochdale. The organisation has since become an inspiration for others across the country. Former Spring Lane GP Dr Kotegaonkar added: “By forming a cooperative, we had the best way of ensuring continuity of care to the community with the assurance of quality. The GP will treat every patient as if it is their patient.”

Pride in their work remains a big part of what makes the modern day BARDOC tick, and a recent survey showed that 92 per cent of employees felt that BARDOC provides high quality patient focused care with 91 per cent stating they knew what to do if worried about the wellbeing of a patient. Over 81 per cent were proud to work at BARDOC and crucially 95 per cent of staff would have no hesitation in recommending the service to friends and family.

Vicky Riding, chief executive of BARDOC added: “BARDOC is totally focused on its community and our experience means that others frequently call on us for support. That is what helps join-up health and social care so successfully in Bury.

"We are a credible concern with deep roots but we are also an organisation that is willing to learn and adapt in an environment that is constantly changing.”

To celebrate its coming of age, BARDOC has had a special display cake created by renowned bakers Slattery’s of Whitefield, which is touring members of the community.