PATIENTS in Bromsgrove who need to consult or be seen by a doctor at weekends will have to travel to Redditch after September 1.

From that date the GP out-of-hours service will be transferred to the Primary Care Centre attached to the Alexandra Hospital.

But, health chiefs say the move was planned to happen some time ago after the extended hours at the minor injuries unit at the Princess of Wales Community Hospital (PoW) came into force last April.

At present doctors are available at the PoW to see patients in emergencies by appointment at weekends from 10am to 2pm and from 4 to 8pm.

From September 1, patients ringing their GP surgeries in the first instance will be told how to contact the Redditch unit or, if they are too ill to travel, will be visited by the doctor on call as now.

Jane Pugh, director of nursing and clinical services at Redditch and Bromsgrove Primary Care Trust, said the evening service, which allowed patients to see a doctor at the Princess of Wales hospital after their own GP surgeries had closed, had been discontinued about a year ago.

She said the move has come about as a result of a need to centralise the service and because it has been found that demand had not been sufficient to warrant having doctors on duty at those times.

The out-of-hours service is undertaken by a pool of doctors working for South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust.