HEALTH bosses have told thousands of patients they are working hard to continue access to GP services.

The contract with Colne Road Surgery in Burnley for the provision of services to patients registered with Daneshouse Medical Centre is set to end on March 31.

Daneshouse Medical Centre had more than 3,000 patients on its register but closed in August last year.

A short term caretaker contract was awarded to Colne Road Surgery to ensure patients still had access to a GP.

This short term GP contract ends on March 31.

But East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group bosses say they are working to make sure there won't be a gap in service.

A letter is being sent to each registered patient to let them know what is happening now and what will happen next.

In the meantime Colne Road Surgery will remain responsible for the provision of services until 31 March 2019 and patients should be able to access services there as normal until then.

An East Lancashire CCG spokesman said: "Since the closure of Daneshouse Medical Centre on the 22 August 2018, GP services have continued to be provided to patients who are registered with Daneshouse from Colne Road Surgery.

"This was a short term plan while we thought about the longer term future of GP services for the Daneshouse area and we would like to express our thanks to all the staff at Colne Road for their support under challenging circumstances.

"Since this time, the CCG has been considering what should happen next, for those patients who have been affected.

"People told us that they would rather we procured a new contract instead of dispersing the list of patients.

"A procurement is now underway to ensure that local people have the services that best meet their needs and to encourage innovative approaches to working in this vibrant area.

"No action is needed from anyone affected as the CCG will communicate next steps across the next few weeks.

"If you have any questions or comments, please write to us at the address above, email bwdandeast.lancscomms@nhs.net or contact Customer Care on 01772 777952."