NHS Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, said that the process of choosing a replacement provider for Highley Medical Practice is set to be complete by Thursday, at which point the winning bidder will be publicly confirmed.

The future of GP services in Highley was thrown into doubt last November when the management of the village's practice gave notice of plans to end the contract to manage the service.

The contract is set to expire at the end of this month, but the current management has agreed to continue operating until the end of June.

An update prepared for Shropshire Council's Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee on Monday, details the state of play in progress to secure a replacement.

It says that a business case is being developed for a new base for the practice at the Severn Centre in the village – along with other health and wellbeing services.

The report states: "The Integrated Care Board (ICB) is committed to maintain GP services in Highley and the procurement of a replacement provider will be complete by March 23 at which point the successful bidder will be announced.

"The current GP provider has agreed to continue service provision until the end of June 2023 to enable the new provider sufficient time to safely plan for and mobilise. This has been communicated to patients via a number of routes other than the practice and we thank the parish councillors for their support with this.

"In the short to medium term, the new service provider will continue to deliver services from the current practice premises."

It says the second stage of the plan will look at basing the new service at the Severn Centre.

It states: "An exciting opportunity is being explored, with partners, to locate services to the Severn Centre in Highley to create an integrated health and wellbeing centre.

"A business case is in development through a multi-stakeholder project group including the Local Authority, Integrated Care Board, Primary Care Network, Parish Councillors and Halo Leisure."