ALMOST 500 people in Bicester are still without a local doctor more than seven months after the closure of North Bicester Surgery.

The doctor's surgery in Bure Park closed its doors for the final time on September 30 last year, leaving more than 4,000 people without a local GP.

While many have found another doctor, 494 remain at the North Bicester surgery despite being urged to do so at the tail end of last year.

Ken Williamson, chairman of the Keep Our NHS Public (KONP) campaign, said more needed to be done to make sure people were aware of the issue.

The retired GP said: "If a practice closes or a doctor retires people are given lists of other practices they can try but I don't think there has been any publicity about it.

"I'm am worried about Bicester. The same is true of all of the other areas of Oxfordshire with big housing projects; primary care is under pressure."

A KONP spokesman added: "It is a very worrying situation. People need to be sharply aware of the fact that we have this fluidity and instability in primary care."

Patients formerly registered at Bicester North were being signposted towards four other surgeries in Bicester: The Health Centre in Coker Close, Victoria House in Buckingham Road, Langford Medical Practice in Nightingale Place and Montgomery House Surgery in Piggy Lane.

In October Victoria House and Langford merged with a view to eventually working under one roof, reportedly for financial reasons.

While none of the practices in the Bicester area currently have closed lists or waiting lists there are concerns they will not be able to cope with increasing demand.

Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group spokeswoman Vicky Brandon said: "OCCG is working closely with Cherwell DC on how the growth may be managed.

"At the moment the practices are able to absorb growth as houses are being built, but we are currently working on where the tipping point may be."

It follows concerns that patients were not re-registering following the closure of Deer Park Medical Centre in Witney, which closed at the end of March this year.

Two weeks prior to the closure about 3,000 people were still registered at the centre and Dr Williamson said he believed more than a 1,000 had still not moved over.

At the time executive director Rosalind Pierce said: "One of the easiest things that patients can do to look after their own health and well-being is to be registered at a GP surgery and it is clearly in their interests to register now."