Health bosses have said the future of a GP surgery in Bargoed is secure, after it was confirmed that another in the town will close.
Bargoed Hall Family Health Centre will close on September 30 this year with around 4,300 patients moved to other practices.
The surgery will hand back its General Medical Services contract to Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.
Doctors running Bryntirion Surgery, in West Street, Bargoed, have also said they want to hand back their contract to the health board on November 30 this year, but unlike Bargoed Hall, the surgery will remain open under the control of the health board.
Caerphilly Assembly Member Hefin David and Bargoed councillors met with health bosses recently and were given an assurance that Bryntirion would remain open and that services there would improve.
Dr David said: “I understand, as do local councillors, that the best scenario would have been to have kept Bargoed Hall open.
“However, the health board argued that the best chance of recruiting replacement doctors depended on the introduction of a new model of care and that this needed to be located in one place in Bargoed rather than two, namely Bryntirion.
“If this is the case, we must see significant improvements to the service at Bryntirion.”
Dr David and the councillors also raised concerns over the way the closure had been handled.
The health board told them it accepted the closure had not been well communicated to patients and that better public engagement and communication would happen from now on.
A spokeswoman for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board said: “The health board has been working through its process to consider all options available for the future provision of services to the patients currently registered at Bargoed Hall Family Health Centre.
“This consideration has included engaging with our Local Medical Committee and Aneurin Bevan Community Health Council to come to the conclusion that patients would be allocated to other GP practices in the area for their ongoing care.
“The health board considered several factors, including the size of the practice, where patients live, the current difficulty in recruiting GPs and other local GP practices available in the area.
“The health board appreciates that this will be unsettling for patients, however we would like to assure patients that we will make all the necessary arrangements to ensure that all they are transferred to a GP practice local to where they live.”