A plaque commemorating two Oldham doctors’ services and dedication to the community has been unveiled.

Lancaster House in Royton has installed a plaque in honour of Dr Sudakhar Dhanawade and his wife Dr Vidya Dhanawade who together ran the Royton Medical Centre which used to be housed in the building on Market Street before it became an NHS community diagnostic centre ran by Lancaster House Consulting last year.

Dr Sudakhar Dhanawade and his wife Dr Vidya Dhanawade arrived in the UK from India in 1969 and worked at NHS hospitals across the country.

In 1974 they started working in Royton as GPs and never left after taking an immediate liking to the people and nearby countryside.

The couple took over a practise on 52, Oldham Road following the death of GP Dr McPheat. The surgery was in a terraced house, and the Dhanawades would see patients in the front room while living in the back with their daughter Rashmi who later went on to open her own dental practice on Middleton Road.

In the 1980s the Dhanawades were among the first doctors to work in the newly opened Royton Health Centre and in 1988 decided to open their own purpose-built premises.

After acquiring land from Oldham council, they designed the Royton Medical Centre to offer the highest quality care to the community, including space for nurses, counselling services, and minor surgeries all under one roof.

The Dhanawades moved into their new premises at 15 Market Street in 1989 and cared for the people of Royton for more than 40 years up until they retired.

The couple became well known within the community and Mrs Dhanawade regularly visited Royton market up until her death aged 80 in 2020.

Her husband Dr Sudakhar Dhanawade, 86, has said he is proud that the premises they built together, continues to be used to provide high-quality medical care to the descendants of their original patients.