A GP practice at the centre of a six-month battle between the Witney community and health bosses is to close today.

Despite a tireless campaign from patients, Deer Park Medical Centre will shut its doors despite having more than 2,000 patients still on its books.

However, questions still hang over the centre after Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt last week referred the decision to close it to a panel of independent health service experts for review.

Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) announced the centre, which served more than 4,000 patients at the time, would close after no-one could be found to run it after Virgin's contract expired.

The announcement was referred to Mr Hunt in February following a unanimous vote by Oxfordshire health overview and scrutiny committee.

Last week he referred the decision to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel, who will review what should be ‘provided at or in the immediate vicinity of the centre’.

He wrote a letter to the CCG explaining the decision. Though he uses the letter to state the surgery should close in the interest of patient safety, Mr Hunt also asks the CGG to consider taking no further action that would prevent the practice from reopening pending the results of the IRP review.

Mr Hunt has asked the panel to report to him by April 11.

The CCG has relayed the message to patients and urged those still registered at Deer Park to find another practice.

A spokesman said: “Patients who do not register with a new practice risk being unable to easily access medical care from a GP.”

Witney residents reacted with anger when the announcement was first made, with thousands signing a petition calling for Deer Park to remain open.

One patient, Yvonne De Burgo, also tried to challenge the decision through the High Court but was unsuccessful.

Chairwoman of Deer Park's patient participation group Brenda Churchill said the letter seemed to indicate the practice could re-open its doors following the IRP review.

She said: "As we read the letter from Jeremy Hunt it reads as if the practice may be recommissioned – but we don’t know whether that’s true.

"We’re not disbanding as a PPG. Some of us will continue fighting after the closure under the name Deer Park Campaign Group.

"What we’re saying now is that we need to get around a table the CCG, the doctors and Robert Courts to thrash this out and see what we can do to get this sorted.

"If it is going to be recommissioned I can’t see doctors in the town being very happy about it."

Watchdog Healthwatch Oxfordshire has continued to urge patients to re-register with an alternative practice.

Rosalind Pearce, executive director of Healthwatch Oxfordshire, said: “Care could be compromised if patients are not registered with a GP.

“There will be no more doctor appointments at Deer Park Medical Practice after Friday. Patients need to register with another practice now."

The contract had previously been held by Virgin Care.