LOCAL healthcare funding for Watford will be managed from Welwyn Garden City after an NHS reorganisation in October.

The eight primary care trusts (PCTs) in Hertfordshire, that currently fund GPs, health visitors, practice nurses and district nurses, are going to be reorganised into two organisations.

The two new PCTs will cover west and east Herts respectively, but will both be run by a single management team based at Charter House, in Parkway, Welwyn Garden.

When the reorganisation happens, the three trusts which fund local services in and around the Watford area, Watford and Three Rivers, Dacorum and Hertsmere, will cease to exist.

It is unclear whether any part of the new organisations will be based at the current headquarters of Watford and Three Rivers PCT, Royalty House in King Street, Watford.

Watford and Three Rivers representative Vicky Laws said: "The PCT has leased Royalty House until 2010. We are looking at establishing the need for the premises after the single management team relocates to Welwyn Garden City.

"A number of PCT staff will not be based at Charter House. These could include staff directly supporting practice-based commissioning groups."

She said Welwyn Garden City had been chosen because of the size of the PCT offices there, its central location and its rail links.

It is not yet known how many redundancies will result from the reorganisation.