MALVERN people are being encouraged to speak their minds on new plans affecting health provision in the town.

Brian Clifton, chairman of Worcester and District Community Health Council, is urging as many people as possible attend two meetings on March 17.

The meetings will air plans to move several of Malvern's GP surgeries to the same area of Malvern Link.

"It's in the interests of the patients that as many people as possible attend these meetings," he said.

"It's only by the public getting invol-ved that changes will occur."

South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust has set meetings for 2.30pm and 6.30pm to discuss plans to move both Malvern Health Centre and Court Road Surgery to Townsend Way.

Planning permission to move the Avenue Road surgery to the same area has already been granted.

Mr Clifton said there was no doubt new facilities were needed and he was not overly concerned all Malvern's surgeries could end up being within three quarters of a mile of each other.

"The difficulty comes when you have to get to your local surgery," he said. "If surgeries are going to move slightly out of the centre that provides opportunity to look how we are running our public transport in Malvern. These things obviously go hand in hand.

"Although we welcome the new developments we have got to take care of the transport system as well and make sure that the patients at these surgeries are quite happy with the arrangements being made.

"It will be a challenging time, the next six months."

The PCT says moves have been tabled because Malvern Health Centre and Court Road Surgery do not have enough room to house the full range of GP services for their patients.

The community services based at the Health Centre also need to be moved to modern accommodation. The current buildings are not suitable for modern practice and neither can be extended because the sites are too cramped.