The clinical commissioning group (CCG) in North Hampshire is set to merge with five others from April - creating one Hampshire-wide body.

Concerns have been raised by councillors about how this move may reduce local-focussed services but the clinical-led body has given assurances that these will be ‘very much retained’.

Clinical commissioning groups are NHS organisations set up by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to organise the delivery of NHS services in England. They are responsible for commissioning primary health care services, such as GP practices, in their designated area.

The single Hampshire, Southampton and Isle of Wight CCG will replace the current Hampshire and Isle of Wight Partnership of CCGs - which has seen the close joint working of Fareham and Gosport, Isle of Wight, North Hampshire, and South Eastern Hampshire CCGs over the last three years - as well as Southampton City CCG and West Hampshire CCG.

Speaking at a meeting of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s Community, Environment and Partnerships Committee yesterday (March 17), Dr Matt Nisbet, GP at Crown Heights in Basingstoke and North Hampshire CCG clinical lead for business and partnership, told members that the new network was a result of “central policy”.

Voicing her concerns, Cllr Jenny Vaux (Conservative, Tadley Central) said: “Hampshire County Council is huge, so I am very concerned about the lack of local feel to health here and I wondered if you could assure us about how that will be managed?”

This was echoed by Cllr Tony Jones (Labour, Buckskin), who added: “Going to one CCG for Hampshire frightens me to death.”

However, Dr Nisbett said that the change in structure is aimed at both keeping a local-focus, while benefitting from joint-up working across the region.

He said: “I understand your concern around that. When CCGs were established one of the primary objectives is that they were clinically-led and local-focused, and I think to a large extent they have succeeded in that.

“But there have been things that have been lost in that as well, so this latest structural change was designed to address that. So whilst it's true that in April the CCGs will merge into a single one, we are still very much retaining a local structure as well.”

Dr Nisbet added that there is also a “local integrated care partnership” in place which “covers just our area”.