Tributes to pioneering city GP after death at 71
TRIBUTES have been paid to a Birmingham doctor who launched a groundbreaking seven-day-a-week GP service in the city.
Dr Ashok Vora, who died at the age of 71, was given a touching send-off by staff as his funeral took place on Saturday.
The senior partner at the West Heath Medical Centre was pioneering in medicine and healthcare in South Birmingham over four decades.
Staff and well-wishers gathered outside the West Heath Road surgery he joined in 1983 to pay their respects with a round of applause as his funeral cortege passed by.
Dr Vora, a father and grandfather-of-three, was later cremated during a service in Redditch, attended by hundreds of family, friends, and colleagues.
In a tribute to his father, Nirmal Vora, a managing partner at the surgery, said he was “visionary in pioneering and innovating General Practice.”
“My father was a firm believer in the family doctor principles and knew many generations of the same family treating each patient as the individual they were,” said Nirmal Vora.
“He was a visionary in pioneering and innovating General Practice, which has led to the wide range of services and the purpose built health centre that we call West Heath Medical Centre today.
“He reluctantly couldn’t consult patients due to ill health from 2015 but he continued to lead our practice team with his wisdom and knowledge until his death.”
Over his lengthy career, Dr Vora coupled being senior partner at West Heath Surgery with reshaping clinical practices across the region as a founding Director of South Doc Services.
This is a federation of GPs that allowed for collaborative working between surgeries in Birmingham - a model that earned the respect of healthcare services across the country.
Alongside the team at South Doc Services, Dr Vora introduced a ground-breaking seven-day-aweek GP service in the federation which now covers 68 practices and 430,000 patients across Birmingham.