THE NUMBER of GP surgeries in the Dorset west area could be halved as health bosses review primary care services.

Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is proposing to cut the current eight GP surgeries west of Dorchester to between three and five facilities.

Last night, officials from the CCG discussed the proposals in Beaminster after being invited to a meeting by the Tollerford Practice patient participation group.

Speaking at last night's meeting, head of primary care Sue Sutton, said that there were no proposals in place and it would be up to GPs themselves, as to whether any practices would merge in the future.

Initial proposals indicate that primary care could be provided through a “reduced number of locations”.

In its draft primary care commissioning strategy and plan, the CCG has set out its blueprint for west Dorset.

It states: “One possible model is to deliver all urgent primary care services from a single hub location building on the community hub model under development at Bridport.

“At scale, delivery of primary care could potentially be delivered from three to five locations.”

Dr Forbes Watson, chairman of NHS Dorset CCG, said: “Primary care faces a number of challenges in the future, and if we continue as we are doing our workforce and finances could soon become overstretched.

“The draft primary care commissioning strategy and plan considers how services could be delivered differently to ensure they are safe and sustainable for the future - for example consolidation of sites or back office functions.

“We want to be clear that this draft version has been circulated to key stakeholders to gain their views and that no decisions have been made around closure of practices.”

Data released last week shows that there are 18,067 registered patients at Bridport Medical Centre, 5,619 patients at Barton House in Beaminster and a combined 5,854 patients at the Tollerford Practices at Tunnel Road in Beaminster and Pound Piece in Maiden Newton.

There are also 4,176 patients at Lyme Regis Medical Centre and 2,263 at Lyme Bay Medical Centre. Charmouth Medical Centre has 2,275 patients and Portesham Surgery has 2,920 patients.

Cllr Ros Kayes, who represents Bridport at town, district and county level, said: “I have a very grave concern over the likely reduction in surgeries in any rural area.

“Elderly patients or those without a car should not be discriminated against in terms of their ability to access services.”

“When the time comes for the consultation on the proposed changes, I hope that the CCG will leave room for personal comments in their questions and I hope that members of the public who may be affected will respond en masse and be clear about how such proposals would affect them.”