THE non-profit organisation which provides GP out-of-hours care in East Lancashire celebrated its 20th anniversary yesterday.
East Lancashire Medical Services [ELMS], based in Accrington Road, Blackburn, marked the occasion by unveiling a new training centre for staff, which was officially opened by MP Jack Straw.
Originally formed as a co-operative by local doctors in 1994, to organise a rota for overnight call-outs, the organisation has since moved into other areas of primary care, such as the Minor Injuries Unit in Rossendale and Health Access Centre in Accrington.
Mr Straw said: “I would like to congratulate everyone who’s been involved in this. It didn’t know too much about ELMS, but perhaps that’s because I tend to hear about things that are going wrong.”
Diane Ridgway, ELMS chief executive, said: “I do believe the co-operative has come a long way to support primary care, to work not-for-profit and to put patients at the heart of what we do. We’ll hopefully be here for many years to come.”
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