ALL five GP practices in Bromsgrove and one in Rubery, will from this week, be closed on Saturday mornings in future as part of a major shake-up in national changes to out-of-hours family doctor services.

However, a spokeswoman for Redditch and Bromsgrove Primary Care Trust (PCT) reassured patients worried by the change, that anyone needing an emergency consultation will still be able to do so.

But the move has angered Bromsgrove's Tory MP Julie Kirkbride who declared: "The people of Bromsgrove should be reminded we are making higher National Insurance contributions to pay for NHS improvements.

"I don't see how axing Saturday morning surgeries is compatible with those promises that have been made and I shall be taking up the matter very vigorously."

Responsibility for providing services from 6.30pm to 8am Monday to Friday, the whole of weekends and on Bank Holidays was transferred to the trust on Monday as part of the implementation arrangements for the new GP contracts which came into force on April 1 this year.

Patients registered with surgeries in Catshill, Churchfields, Davenal House, New Road and St John's and New Road, Rubery wanting to contact their GP in an emergency on Saturday mornings will initially have to ring the Worcestershire GP out-of-hours service. The number is 0845 609 0669.

Similar arrangements have been in place in Barnt Green and Redditch since September.

Patients from these practices should also use the number throughout the weekend from 6.30pm to 8am Monday to Friday and on bank holidays.

Patients registered with the Cornhill Surgery in Rubery, the Glebeland Surgery, Belbroughton and surgeries in Wythall will continue to contact their practices in the usual way.

District councillor Dave McGrath (Broms Ind Group-Beacon) the district council's representative on the county council's health scrutiny panel said he is concerned at the change and plans to keep a watchful eye on how the new scheme pans out.

Among several important questions he wants answered is how many doctors will be on call at any one time and what areas they will cover.

The new GP out-of-hours service for Worcestershire was launched last February.

Patients ringing the service will either be given advice, invited to visit the Princess of Wales hospital in Bromsgrove or the Alexandra in Redditch or receive a home visit from a GP.

The new service has cost the PCT about £250,000 to develop.

Neil Bucktin, the PCT's director of Primary Care said: "An average of 26 calls were made to the service each Saturday morning during the first five weeks from a population of over 86,000 patients.

"We are now extending these arrangements to a further 48,000 patients as the final phase of our plan to implement the new GP contract."