WE all know what we expect of our GPs, don't we?

Doctors are the people to visit when you're ill. You feel unwell, you go to the surgery and ask for something to make you better. Job done.

However, that is all changing.

In Bolton, the strategic aim is to catch people before they become ill and to keep them healthier for longer.

The Bolton News serves the community and we care about the people of Bolton, which is why we are, pardon the pun, wholeheartedly supporting the campaign launched today by the Primary Care Trust.

The BIG Bolton Health Check needs to be a success because, quite simply, it will save lives across the borough.

Bolton will become the first place in the UK to carry out the checks on everyone over the age of 45, to discover their risk of developing heart disease.

The test is simple and brief. It takes just 10 minutes and they could be the most important 10 minutes of your life.

Simple lifestyle changes or basic medication can then be prescribed which will have great benefits for people's health.

Dr Stephen Liversedge, chairman of the Professional Executive Committee of the PCT, is passionate about the campaign and we would back his call for everyone to get involved.

And it will be easier than ever to take part in The BIG Bolton Health Check, as the tests will not just be carried out in GPs' surgeries.

Health trainers will be going out into the community to take the campaign mobile over the next 10 months. They will visit places such as community centres, pubs, churches, mosques and shops to achieve the target of testing all of the remaining 46,000 eligible people.

So, please join in with us; your involvement is vital.

With your help, Bolton can begin to shed its unenviable record as a heart disease blackspot. The campaign's success has the potential to spread across the UK, making a hugely positive impact on people's health.