RADICAL changes to how people see their general practitioner in some parts of the county have been announced as health chiefs admit the current model is no longer sustainable.

Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has said a desperate lack of doctors, coupled with a growing and ageing population, means the health needs in towns and villages could no longer be met by traditional GP surgeries.

In an effort to move to a more sustainable model, the CCG aims to develop two large ‘neighbourhood health hubs’ in Bicester by 2031which could offer care for up to 40,000 patients from the surrounding area.

However, local councillors have raised concerns over the plans, which could see patients having to travel further to see a doctor, while putting more strain on the local infrastructure.

Speaking at Cherwell District Council’s overview and scrutiny committee on Tuesday, the CCG’s healthy new towns officer, Rosie Rowe, said the lack of doctors was the biggest problem faced by primary care, with many young doctors finding the idea of working at GP practices unappealing.

Working as a salaried GP at one of the new health hubs would be a more attractive option, according to Ms Rowe.

She said: “We need to address the population growth that’s happening in and around the town and look at how services can adapt and what changes might be needed to accommodate the increasing population.

She added: “But it’s not about having enough money, it’s about having enough doctors who want to be GPs.”

Bicester is one of the fastest growing towns in the UK with more than 10,000 new homes expected over the next 13 years.

Patients numbers in the Bicester area are expected to swell by more than 20 per cent.

However, with the favoured path of the Oxford to Cambridge expressway likely to run close to Bicester, the potential is there for even more housing developments.

With GP 's struggling with demand across the county the new model could be rolled out elsewhere.

The CCG is still looking to fill a hole in GP services in Witney after partners at Cogges Surgery handed back their contract earlier this year, while in 2017 hundreds of patients were left without a GP following the closure of Deer Park Medical Centre, also in Witney.

The CCG has said in Bicester it hopes to use the health centre at the Community Hospital as one of the new ‘health campuses’, while the second will be on the Graven Hill development, where almost 2,000 homes are planned, or on the Kingsmere development, which will have up to 2,450 new homes.

Cherwell councillor for Bicester West Les Sibley raised concerns over the locations, saying it could put pressure on a saturated transport network.

He said: “These sites are quite close to one another and that, to me, would immediately defeat what you’re trying to achieve.

“I just see this as a big timebomb that is ticking away.

“They are within about a square mile of each other and we have already got traffic issues.”

After the meeting, he said: “We need to think seriously. We need to make sure we plan properly for the future health needs of the town.”