Campaigners have raised concerns that GP surgeries across the county could be shut, as major plans to build a medical “super hub” in High Wycombe are revealed.

Buckinghamshire’s Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has been “provisionally allocated” £8.8 million by NHS England to create three “primary care hubs” in the county – with one planned for the Wycombe Hospital site.

Health chiefs say the new centre could eventually serve up to 50,000 patients – as councils continue to plan future housing growth for the county.

Plans are still in the early stages, but hubs are expected to offer primary care, out-of-hospital and voluntary sector services, in a bid to “bring care closer to home” and reduce “unnecessary trips” to hospitals.

However health campaigner Ozma Hafiz, who has fought plans to close High Wycombe’s Lynton House surgery, has raised concerns some patients will be forced to travel further for treatment if some surgeries are moved to the new site.

She also questioned whether enough GPs could be sourced to work at the hub – as the NHS continues to battle huge shortages in healthcare staff across the country.

Ms Hafiz said: “I am concerned about the GP surgeries. We fought hard to save Lynton House surgery, because there are people that could walk into their surgery, but would struggle to get to the hospital site.

“It would be the same for the surgeries in the town centre, it could mean further health implications for some people who can’t get to a surgery independently.

“The surgeries on the outside of town, I understand they are looking to extend some of those as part of the local plan and the ones in the town centre are at risk of being shut.

“They have got to property plan it out and think about the risks. They must also fully consult with the public.”

Another hub is planned for Aylesbury, while cash has also been earmarked to extend some existing surgeries in south Bucks.

Plans are still in the early stages, however it is expected the hubs will offer primary care, out-of-hospital and voluntary sector services, in a bid to “bring care closer to home” and reduce “unnecessary trips” to hospitals.

However speaking at a meeting of Bucks County Council’s health and adult social care select committee this week, Wycombe District Councillor (WDC), Tony Green, questioned the benefits of providing more healthcare provision in the centre of towns.

He said: “WDC did some work a few years ago now on GP provision, and one of the conclusions they came to was that a lot of the provision is centred in the town centre which means that people living in the outlying areas tend to have poorer provision.

“This proposal seems to be increasing that, and concentrating yet more provision in the centre of town.”

An outline business case for the hubs is set to be unveiled at the end of the month.

However clinical chair of Bucks' CCG, Dr Raj Bajwa, assured resudents "there are no plans to close any GP practices in Wycombe.

He said: "Currently, we are working with a GP Practice that wishes to move onto the Wycombe site; this offers opportunities for Clinicians across the Minor Injury and Illness Unit, Hospital services and the GP practice to work even closer together for the benefit of our local population. We refer to this type of co-location of services as a ‘hub’.

“Clearly, once any decision is made, the practice would liaise with patients accordingly to keep them informed of any developments.

“Across the CCG we have high quality GP services delivered from small, medium and large practices; we see the benefits of supporting all such styles and sizes because it enables patients to choose their preferred service.”