GPs are looking for reassurance they will not have to tighten their belts too much once Cheshire’s four healthcare commissioning groups have merged.

NHS West Cheshire, Eastern Cheshire, South Cheshire and Vale Royal clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are set to become one Cheshire CCG in April 2020.

The move means that residents across both Cheshire East and West should be able to access the same standards of healthcare, while reduced running costs are expected to deliver savings against the current system.

But at West Cheshire CCG’s governing body meeting on Thursday, members called for clarity on how the merger would affect the finances of GP surgeries in the area.

Dr Steve Pomfret, GP network chairman for rural surgeries, said: “This is happening, it’s happening at a pace which is going to catch up with us quite quickly.

“What does it really mean for West Cheshire’s financial management? At the moment we’ve got a financial recovery plan, we’re all quite interested in delivering that. How does that translate when we merge?”

Dr Jeremy Perkins, GP network chairman for surgeries in Ellesmere Port and Neston, added: “Concerns about the pan-Cheshire CCG are financial really, especially because some of our neighbours’ financial positions are slightly precarious if that’s the right word to use.

“So it’s really to do with the preservation of finances and services, such as enhanced services.

“Even though they are enhanced services, they are quite critical to the way GPs get their funding – and if there was such a financial constraint that they were removed, it would put GP practices in difficulty.”

In April, Vale Royal and South Cheshire CCGs revealed they had a combined deficit of £10 million, while all four CCGs have all faced financial difficulties in recent years.

Gareth James, chief finance officer at West Cheshire CCG, told the governing body that financial risks involving the merger ‘are genuine’.

He said: “All four CCGs are facing financial risk at different levels so that has to be near the top of the list of the things that we address as part of the planning towards that process.

“We have had some conversations with NHS England – so the sooner we can get some mitigations out for that I think that will help with the process.”

All four CCGs have provisionally agreed to progress with the merger.