PORLOCK GP Dr Ian Kelham has been named as the successful bidder to provide family doctor services to the Dunster area.

His was one of around half a dozen bids for the 2,200-registered patient practice in a competitive process which followed the announcement by existing GPs Drs Michael and Anne Currie that they intended to retire in the autumn.

The couple have provided services to their patients for more than 20 years and Dr Anne is the third generation of her family to practice in Dunster.

In addition to Dunster, the practice covers residents in the villages of Blue Anchor, Carhampton, Bilbrook, Luxborough, Withycombe, Dunster Marsh and some parts of Minehead.

NHS Somerset - formerly the Somerset Primary Care Trust - staged an extensive six-week patient and public consultation earlier this year, inviting local people to share their views on GP services, highlighting areas they most valued and those they wanted to see improved.

Almost 40 per cent of Dunster patients responded to a survey and overwhelmingly said they wanted to see the Dunster practice continue as a rural outlet with a small number of GPs giving a personal service.

And at a meeting of the NHS Somerset Board on Wednesday, members approved Dr Kelham as the preferred contractor.

At the same time, the board was said to be "astounded" at the high level of satisfaction expressed by patients for the existing GPs.

And it also noted that a high quality bid was received from Harley House, Minehead.

David Slack, director of primary care development, said: "We are pleased to recommend Dr Kelham as the contractor for the Dunster practice.

"We are also grateful to Drs Michael and Anne Currie for the many years of dedicated service they have provided to local people.

'We appreciate their hard work and close ties to the local community and know they will be a hard act to follow."

Mr Slack said the board had been very impressed with Dr Kelham's bid and, in particular, his plans for continuing the personalised service in Dunster with a dedicated GP.

"We also liked his proposals to work with the staff and patients to develop new health services, strengthen the dispensing of prescriptions and adopt the wider use of computer technology," said Mr Slack.

"We are confident such improvements will benefit practice staff and patients."

He said NHS Somerset would also be providing the necessary investment to build a new GP surgery for Dunster, which is expected to be completed by 2013.

Dr Kelham said he would be recruiting a new GP to work in Dunster: "Together, in partnership, we will provide services for both the Porlock and Dunster practices.

"However, I intend that each practice will maintain its own special identity and provide all services locally."

Dr Kelham said he fully understood the high regard in which patients held both Dr Anne and Dr Michael and recognised the much appreciated personal care and service their patients had received over the years.

Patients will have a chance to meet Dr Kelham and hear about his plans for the Dunster practice at an information evening on July 29 at 7pm in the Tithe Barn in the village.