A DOCTOR'S surgery in Redbourn with 2,500 registered patients is to close.

Patients have been informed in a letter that the branch surgery of The Elms Medical Practice in Crouch Hall Lane will shut within the next 18 months in order for the practice to 'focus all services' at its modern headquarters in Harpenden.

Partners at The Elms, which has been in the village for nearly 50 years, said it had been 'a very difficult decision to make'.

Many Redbourn residents fear the move will leave them without easy access to their doctor. A recent survey conducted at the branch surgery showed that a quarter of patients - which equates to 600 people - did not arrive by car.

The Elms' partner Dr David Hemsi admitted this week that getting to Harpenden would be a 'huge hurdle for certain groups of people'. And parish councillor Barbara Robinson said elderly people and those with young children were most 'worried and upset' about the move. She added: 'It's a big deal for them. How are many of them going to get over to Harpenden?'

The Elms has sought to reassure patients by promising that anyone who cannot, or does not want to travel to its Harpenden surgery can switch to the other doctors' practice in Redbourn, run by Dr Dexter - which hopes to build a new surgery in Cumberland House.

Councillor Robinson, however, said many patients would be reluctant to change doctors. She added: 'It's a very personal thing, especially for elderly patients. You can talk to your doctor about lots of things that you wouldn't talk to anyone else about.'

But Dr Hemsi said the move would give The Elms' Redbourn patients a much higher degree of care in the long term than they enjoyed at present.

He added: 'Our branch surgery in Redbourn is in a converted house which is totally inappropriate for a modern general practice.

'The Harpenden surgery is a large purpose-built premises which offers many more facilities, and has ample parking.

'We will be able to offer more choice of doctor appointments and services than we could even if we were to build a new branch surgery in Redbourn.

'Our aim of providing the highest possible standards of care to our patients is severely compromised by being on two sites.'

A lot of people who have been with the practice for many years are not happy to change.'