THE county's ambulance service, Royal Bolton Hospital's eye unit, Bolton Tax Office and a Bolton Social Services catering unit have all been given top awards for public service.

The 1998 Charter Mark Award has come as a particular tonic to the county's besieged ambulance service which has faced a barrage of criticism during the past year over delays in reaching casualties.

The BEN revealed how a Bolton patient died while waiting for an ambulance because his street was not on the map and a Wigan man died of a heart attack after a 40-minute wait for an ambulance.

Success

The Charter Mark awards, announced today, mark the second success for GM Ambulance Service. Three years ago it became the first urban ambulance service to win Charter Mark. The award was given in particular for services including a password scheme for their non-emergency patient transport service, so that patients know who is at the door before opening it.

The GM Ambulance Service NHS Trust is the first ambulance service in the UK to achieve re-accreditation of the prestigious award.

Chief Executive of GM Ambulance Service Adrian Lucas said: "The Charter Mark award is a reflection of the hard work and commitment of staff to the continuous improvement and development of the service."

Bolton Tax Office is also a second time winner. The 200 staff deal with the tax affairs of 165,000 people. A "robust" grievance procedure ensures that problems are tackled as they arrive. Other initiatives have included a rapid response team to deal with peaks in customer visits and phone calls.

Bolton's highly respected eye unit has gained national recognition as "a model of best practice".

Since the unit moved to the Royal Bolton site five years ago it has gone from strength to strength.

Five consultant and 70 medical, nursing, ophthalmic and support staff work on the unit, which treats thousands of patients every year.

They range from tiny babies to people in their 80s and 90s.

A close patient-staff relationship has led to a number of advances. After extensive research, the unit became the first in the country to introduce the use of mild, pain relieving gas to help ease patient discomfort during laser treatment.

There is also a highly successful patient suggestion scheme which has resulted in displaying laminated information cards in the patient waiting area and special chairs for the less active.

There are also child friendly play corners and specially commissioned artwork painted on ceilings.

Carol Bernstein, senior nurse/business manager on the eye unit, said: "We strongly believe in putting our patients first and listening to what they have to say, and that is what Charter Mark is all about."

Wigan and Leigh District Benefits Agency scooped an award for the second time for more improvements since their first award in 1995.

Bolton Council's social services catering department has been awarded for their community meals service. T

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