THE number of doctors' emergency house calls has been slashed by two-thirds - and patients say the new policy is just the medicine.

BARDOC - Bury and Rochdale Doctors on Call - was set up last year aiming to make the best use of GPs' time.

It offers telephone advice and the chance to see a doctor at a treatment centre as an alternative to the usual home visit. Now just 35 per cent of calls result in a house call instead of around 100 per cent.

Patients have welcomed the change with more than 58 per cent of people who called on BARDOC rating the help they got as excellent. A further 32 per cent reported it was good, eight per cent that it was satisfactory and only two per cent called it poor.

Dr Nick Dawes, a member of Bury and Rochdale Health Authority says the new system is better for both doctor and patient: "By prioritising requests by offering alternatives to house calls, we can give the best possible care and attention to those who most need it - the very ill, the elderly the disabled and the housebound.

"With BARDOC there is a sense of teamwork between doctors from both towns and there is a real commitment to providing the best possible care for patients. The doctors and patients benefit from the good communications, support services and appropriate diagnostic tools offered by the co-operative."

BARDOC was set up in April after the Government lifted legislation that said patients had the right to demand to see a doctor out-of-hours.

Patients call their own surgery when they need help out-of-hours. An answerphone message tells them to call BARDOC's Parson Lane offices. The GP on call then speaks to the patient, discusses the case and decides on the best course of treatment.

The service currently covers 117 Bury and Rochdale GPs who represent around 240,000 patients.

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