STALLED plans to build or revamp eight Worcestershire GP surgeries look set to go-ahead after all.

If they receive the green light, the news will be a huge victory for the Evening News campaign to save the proposals - which were put on ice in February amid fears of a funding crisis.

Officials from South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust, which is spearheading the proposals, were attending a crunch meeting today, when a final decision is expected.

But yesterday, ahead of the meeting, health bosses and city MP Mike Foster were optimistic the outcome would be the news thousands of Worcestershire residents are hoping for.

At a meeting of the West Midlands South Strategic Health Authority yesterday, which oversees the work and funding of the PCT, SHA chief executive Mike Marchment said he was "entirely confident" all eight schemes would go- ahead.

A formal announcement is set be made on Wednesday, June 2, at a meeting of the PCT's board.

A combination of grants from the SHA, the amount of which should be decided by officials today, and the PCT's own funds would pay for work to all eight surgeries over the next two to three years, said Mr Marchment.

News that the projects could be saved leaked after the PCT cancelled a meeting with Health Minister John Hutton, scheduled to take place at Westminster next Monday.

Sources said the PCT's decision was "a result of developments regarding modernisation of GPs' premises".

A senior representative of the PCT recently met Mr Hutton and discussed the issue with him.

Worcester MP Mike Foster, who had been due to attend the meeting with Mr Hutton, said he was now "cautiously optimistic".

He added: "The Evening News has shown what levels of support there are for this modernisation package.

"Local decision makers must have been impressed with this. I certainly was.

But the PCT knows, as I do, that it is up to them to make the decision on what projects go ahead, not a Minister.

PCT chief executive Mike Ridley confirmed today's meeting but would not comment whether all eight surgeries would be given the go-ahead.

We currently do not know the outcome, he said.

Our customers will be thrilled

NEWS that eight planned county GP surgeries whose futures hang in the balance are on the brink of being saved has been met with jubilation from doctors and residents alike.

The Evening News launched a petition in March demanding Prime Minister Tony Blair intervened and ensured the health centres would receive desperately needed funding.

The petition has proved to be a huge hit with our readers. We have received more than 1,500 signatures.

The proposals will see existing "cramped" surgeries being either expanded or relocated, bringing the county's primary healthcare into the 21st Century.

Many of the new surgeries, in Worcester, Malvern, Pershore, Droitwich and Upton-upon-Severn, will provide a host of extra services, including minor surgery - taking pressure off Worcestershire's hospitals.

Rosalind Davies, proprietor of Hanley Swan Village Stores, near Malvern, which sent us 110 signatures, said: "If they are saved, our customers will be thrilled to bits. They have been very concerned about this issue and everybody we asked was quick to sign the Evening News petition.

"The petition added fuel to the fight to save the surgeries and certainly will have helped the Government realise just how much they meant to us."

James Hill, director of Gold Hill Residential Care Home, in Malvern, sent us 40 signatures of his residents, backing our campaign.

"All of them would be delighted to hear that these surgeries are going ahead.

"The Evening News petition has shown it doesn't matter which political party you support."

Debbie Weston, practice manager at Ombersley Health Centre, in Hastings House, Kidderminster Road, Worcester, has been putting Evening News clippings up at the surgery and encouraging patients to sign our petition.

It is one of the premises earmarked for relocation to a new building.

"I'll be happy when we finally hear the news officially but we will be absolutely over the moon," she said.

"Everyone has worked so hard for this. No one has given up on it - including the Evening News."

"Suspending the plans has affected the doctors and staff a great deal and morale has

been at rock bottom over the past few weeks."

Helen Hartley is practice manager at Haresfield House Surgery, in Bath Road, Worcester - another of the centres to be relocated.

"It will be excellent news for our patients and staff," she said.

"We have 10 doctors working in cramped conditions and poor facilities for our patients. We will be able to employ more local people to help us run and provide facilities for our patients - including minor surgery and more diagnostic investigations.

"It will take us well into the 21st Century and help us supply the demand of all the new people coming into Worcester."

Dr George Wilson, of Upton Surgery, in School Lane, Upton, added: "We are very grateful to the MPs, Councillors, the PCT, and the Evening News for their commitment to this issue.

"We desperately need to replace the surgery. When I came here 35 years ago we had five people running it and now there's 50. We need more space. Times have changed. We see more than 250 patients a day - five times what we used to.