Tribute to health care expert.

SOCIAL and health care professionals in Northumberland have paid tribute to care expert Bill Dack, who has died at the age of 71.

Mr Dack, who lived in Prudhoe, played a key role in developing a county-wide service for carers, working as a volunteer to use his training skills and experience.

He helped change the Carers Together project in Wansbeck from a support group to a local carer service and then became involved in the county-wide Carers

Steering Group, launching Carers Northumberland last year. This organisation supports people who provide unpaid care for a family member or friend affected by disability, illness or frailty.

Mr Dack worked at Glaxo Pharmaceuticals for 27 years, taking early retirement from his post of health and safety officer to care for his first wife, who had multiple sclerosis, until her death. He married his second wife Kathy four years ago..