BRADFORD's first A&E consultants hang up their stethoscopes this month after a combined 48 years’ service treating emergency cases at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Staff at BRI will be saying farewell to two of their longest-serving doctors when emergency consultants Tony Shenton and Pete Bradley retire from the NHS.

The pair have a combined total of 79 years employment with the NHS.

When Dr Shenton, now 61, became the city’s first casualty consultant in 1987, it had about 82,000 patients coming through its doors.

Now there are more than 130,000 patients a year and 14 consultants working there.

Dr Shenton was joined by Dr Bradley, the department's second consultant, in 1994 and together they went on to redesign the old department tripling its space and introducing a new children's emergency unit, working closely with other emergency services, so it could cope with growing demand.

Dr Shenton said: “There have been lots of achievements and I am proud of them all but the development of the new department was definitely a highlight.

"The city’s ED has come a long way since we first started work in Bradford.

"Today, ED sees in excess of 130,000 patients a year and there are 14 consultants, two of which are dedicated solely to children’s ED.

"Once again, a new £2m redevelopment of our ED is taking place which will make it more efficient for staff and patients.

“I will be sad to leave as the hospital has been a big part of my life. My work in ED has been a source of tremendous satisfaction, and I’ve enjoyed immensely being involved in the education and development of countless colleagues in medicine and nursing, as well as other disciplines.”

Dr Shenton has also been the Yorkshire regional adviser for the Faculty of Accident and Emergency Medicine, now the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, and has had other roles including being a medical educator, training medical students, post-graduates and paramedics.

He chaired the Yorkshire Ambulance Service’s regional paramedic steering committee for a number of years and introduced the national and internationally-renowned Royal College of Surgeon’s trauma life-support training for young doctors in the early 2000s.

The pair will not be saying goodbye to medicine for good, father-of-two Dr Bradley hopes to work part of the year in a soon-to-be-built hospital his native in Jamaica while Dr Shenton hopes to still work the odd BRI shift.

Dr Bradley, 57, said: “The Emergency Department has grown hugely since I joined the Trust and the numbers we are seeing coming through our doors, have surpassed all that we could ever have imagined. The city is lucky to have such a great facility at its disposal.”

Bradford Teaching Hospitals’ medical director, Bryan Gill, said: “The NHS is enormously grateful to Tony and Pete for their dedicated work in developing a highly effective and quality ED service for the people of Bradford.

"I’m delighted that so many of their colleagues have come to say goodbye and celebrate their combined 79 years’ service to the NHS.”