A THREE-month consultation period is about to begin on the proposed merger of Malvern, Wychavon and Worcester City Primary Care Groups.

The idea of the merger is to provide greater benefits to patients by giving the groups Primary Care Trust status and, therefore, greater powers and responsibilities.

At present, the Primary Care Groups are responsible for buying healthcare and looking after the general practices in the district.

As a Primary Care Trust, the merged groups would be directly responsible for most of the services currently provided by the Worcestershire Community NHS Health Trust, including Malvern Community Hospital and nursing.

The population served by the new trust would be 250,000 - 70,000 in Malvern Hills and 90,000 in both Worcester City and Wychavon.

But concerns have been raised about whether Malvern patients would get a fair deal, as the smaller of the three groups.

Gillian Goodlad, PCG chief officer, said giving the responsibility of running the district's healthcare to just one body would create more cohesion in the system and therefore better organisation.

"There's an awful lot we could do better," she said.

She added that local healthcare officials would have a direct input into the running of the trust to ensure that the funding was shared fairly between the three districts.

The three-month consultation period is due to begin on Monday (June 18) with a public meeting at Holy Trinity Church Hall, Link, Top on Monday, July 9, from 7pm to 8.30pm. This will give people a chance to ask questions, voice concerns and find out more about how the trust would operate. Leaflets about the trust will be distributed to GPs, dental surgeries and pharmacies. Bodies such as the district and county councils will also be consulted.