Concerns have been raised over the announcement of a new ‘Health Hub’ in Dartford, which will result in six GP surgeries closing.

Dartford Council announced the £75 million development of the town centre, at the old Co-Op site in Spital Street, earlier this year.

The new ‘Health Hub’ will be part of a development which is planned to include a new cinema, restaurants, bars, a 109-bed hotel, a multi-storey carpark and 140 homes.

Dartford Labour leader, Jonathon Hawkes, is concerned that the plan will see six surgeries relocated to the town centre, rather than new GPs being built.

He said: “With thousands of new homes being built in Dartford we desperately need new additional GP surgeries to meet demand, so it’s disappointing to learn that this proposal – promoted by the Conservative council – isn’t going to deliver that. The Health Hub will simply relocate existing practices.”

Councillor Hawkes added: “Dartford needs additional health facilities to meet the demands of our growing town. Instead we are seeing a Conservative government cutting funding to the NHS and a Conservative council supporting a plan to close local GP practices.

“Jeremy Kite and the Conservatives need to stop the PR spin and start explaining when Dartford will get the new GP surgeries we desperately need.”

The Dartford Labour leader was also concerned about residents having to travel further to access a GP.

In response, leader of the council, Jeremy Kite, said the Labour Party was turning the situation into “political football”.

The plans could see a new healthcare facility built to house GPs, as well as family healthcare, social care and mental-health services.

Mr Kite stressed to News Shopper that the proposal was an NHS one, not a Dartford Council one.

He explained: “The NHS want to grow the capacity for healthcare in Dartford where all services are in one place.

“The town centre is a great location for that. It is a more holistic approach and turning this into a political argument is completely reckless of Labour.

“The six surgeries at the moment have no room for expansion. We have to trust the NHS.

“Labour are trying to scare people. We should be listening to what the NHS is saying, not creating cheap shots.

"Do we want to see the modernising of facilities? There will be a link between surgeries and diagnostic services. People attending the current surgeries have to go somewhere else for additional treatment."

Dartford Council and Homes England recently signed a £75 million contract to regenerate the town’s Westgate area.