A WORCESTERSHIRE doctor says he is pleased by Tory leader David Cameron's pledge to "save" family doctors from new super surgeries.

Tory leader David Cameron launched a campaign yesterday to support traditional GPs against plans for new so-called "polyclinics" like the one scheduled to open in Worcester.

The surgery, which would cost up to £1million a year to run, would be open 8am-8pm, seven days a week.

The surgery is scheduled to open between December this year and March next year and no base has yet been agreed.

Mr Cameron, speaking in central London, said: "Communities which have lost their post office, their local shops and their local police station are now going to lose their doctor."

The Tory leader insists the clinics, of which there are expected to be 150 across the country and could have up to 25 GPs each, could lead to the closure of about 1,700 surgeries.

Dr Simon Parkinson, secretary for the Worcestershire Local Medical Committee, was one of a delegation of doctors who handed in a 4,000-signature petition to Downing Street against the plans for the new surgery, which some doctors say undermines the work of existing GPs.

Dr Parkinson, who represents the county's 450 GPs, said he had received a formal acknowledgement from Downing Street but had yet to receive a detailed response to the petition, signed by doctors and patients.

He added that the new super surgeries such as the one in Worcester were designed along a "one size fits all" scenario, overlooking the differences between urban and rural areas.

He said: "I'm totally supportive of David Cameron's comments, although I don't think polyclinics is a good name - I call them "doctor factories".

This idea about "doctor factories" may be relevant in parts of London but even there not everyone is convinced they are the answer."

Mike Foster, MP for Worcester, has consistently said that the new surgery will offer improved access to primary care in the city.

He added: "When that new surgery gets built let the Conservatives say they don't want to support extra investment in the local health centre in the city of Worcester. That way lies political suicide."