THE four bodies in charge of delivering NHS services in Worcestershire and Herefordshire are to merge.

The four Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are to become a single organisation this month following a public consultation.

The merger will result in a single NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire CCG, replacing NHS Herefordshire CCG, NHS Redditch and Bromsgrove CCG, NHS South Worcestershire CCG and NHS Wyre Forest CCG.

The plan to merge does not affect any health or care services provided by NHS organisations or local councils across the area, but aims to reduce the duplication of roles and governance that sit behind the scenes within the four organisations.

Merging the CCGs will help the organisation to be more streamlined across the two counties, according to health bosses.

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Simon Trickett, accountable officer for the Herefordshire and Worcestershire CCGs said: “Our main priority is, and always will be, our patients and the health and wellbeing of our local population.

“Having already set up combined governance and decision-making arrangements across the four CCGs, this is the next logical step.

“We will not lose sight of the different needs of our local communities and we will continue to work with local organisations so that people’s needs, views and experiences remain at the heart of our decision making.”

A public consultation carried out across the two counties earlier this year drew support for proposals to bring together the four CCGs, with more than half of respondents coming out in favour of the creation of a single CCG.

A subsequent ballot of GP practices in each of the four CCG areas drew even stronger support, with 94 per cent of practices across Herefordshire and Worcestershire in favour of a merger.