Plans to reshape out-of-hours medical care in the county have been met with concern from a county councillor.

New plans will allow GPs to cross county boundaries, and just three doctors will be on duty between midnight and 8am, responding to call-outs in Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. The doctors will be based at treatment centres in Haverfordwest, Llandysul and Bronglais, with cover increased at peak times such as Saturday mornings.

Pembrokeshire Local Health Board associate medical director, Dr Iain Robertson-Steel, described the proposal as a positive step, where the two counties will work together to provide cover at all hours, and stressed that patient care would not be compromised.

Out-of-hours services will work with the ambulance service, and the new system will also allow the call centre to access medical records.

Dr Robertson-Steel says the number of doctors on duty matches demand.

He said: “From the data, we have more than enough doctors to cope with the workload and the key issue is triaging. We try to plan for the level of demand we are likely to encounter, and want to provide the best care for our patients.

He added: “There will be an incremental change rather than a big-bang approach.”

Tenby councillor Michael Williams wrote to the Western Telegraph referring to a “great health service con”, and was concerned that there would only be one out-of-hours doctor available in Pembrokeshire.

Cllr Williams said: “The only option for those needing out-of-hours care will be to dial 999 or drive themselves to Haverfordwest.”

He added: “The level of out-of-hours healthcare is now verging on the unsafe, particularly with an elderly population.

“We are told we live in one of the richest countries in the world. It doesn’t feel like it when urgent frontline medical care is needed.”