There are fears that the Whitehill and Bordon Health Hub could be a project under no control, county councillors have warned.

An update on the new health hub at Whitehill and Bordon has been strongly criticised by Hampshire county councillors, who said the delivery of the health hub could be at risk since the lease for primary medical care has yet to be signed.

In recent months, Badgerswood and Forest GP Surgery, which would provide primary care and community health services in the hub, applied to build a single-storey pharmacy next to Forest Medical Surgery. This involved moving the Chase Pharmacy based within the practice into a new building on the part of the car park north-west of the surgery.

The move raised concerns in the local community, who said the action “makes no sense”.

NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB) said in a report presented at the Hampshire County Council meeting (November 26) that the lease of the building in terms of providing primary care and community health is “the critical enabler” to permit the procurement of the building in January 2025.

The report reads: “The lease must be completed by the end of this year to enable the health hub delivery and occupation by all health services as planned in 2026/2027.”

Those concerns were exposed at the meeting when Cllr Andy Tree wanted to clarify that point of the report.

He asked if the ICB, which plans NHS services, was suggesting that the health hub plan fails if such a contract is not in space by the end of December 2024.

Lisa Medway, of the ICB, said the Forest Surgery application to extend its practice is something they “won’t support”.

Mrs Medway said: “We’ve been very clear that this is something we wish not to be looking to reinvest in additional space. The plan is to relocate to the care hub.

“If the GP surgery chooses not to sign a lease or to relocate into the health hub, there will be no GP surgery within the health hub facility. I don’t think, honestly, that this would happen. We are having really open and honest conversations with the practice.”

The ICB said that the application from Forest Surgery is a preventive measure for a private business when they feel “uncertainties” from the public sector about committing to the health hub model.

An ICB officer said: “We, as the ICB, along with the stakeholders, committed to this project a while ago, and we are in the process of delivering it. We are communicating with the GP practice, maintaining confidence that the hub will be built.

“There are delicate conversations that have to be had over the next month. But that process and those conversations would be much easier when they can clearly observe that the public sector remains committed to a project they [public sector] initiated a while ago.”

Despite ICB comments, Cllr Stephen Reid said that after hearing the conversation he was not assured that the project, which would also see Chase Community Hospital services move to the site, would definitely happen.

“I don’t think that we can take for what you told us today that this is definitely going to happen.

“We’ve got questions. Is the lease going to be signed by the end of the year? I don’t think so […] What you have told me today is very useful, thank you very much, but I have this horrible feeling that this project is not under control and there is a lot more work to be done to be delivered.”

The committee, with some members who feared the project might not be under control, will receive an update in the upcoming months.