THE Dorset Primary Care Trust is changing its name to NHS Dorset.

The new name is a bid to help people identify the primary care trust as the leader of the NHS in Dorset and recognise it as the first point of contact for NHS services.

It is also an attempt to help remove confusion amongst members of the public as to the role of the primary care trust.

The trust is responsible for commissioning health services for people in Dorset.

In a bid to avoid extra costs, old stationery and other items will still carry the Dorset Primary Care Trust logo and will be replaced with items bearing the new NHS Dorset logo as stocks run out.

Signs at hospitals and other sites will be changed in a planned replacement programme.

Director of communications and corporate affairs Claire Warner said: "We hope this new name will help people to recognise our role and responsibilities.

"We are playing an increasingly important part as the local leader for the NHS in Dorset.

"As we need to involve members of the public more and more in decisions we make about local services, it's important they recognise who we are and what we do."

The re-branding follows a national trend set out in a review of the NHS by Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Health Lord Darzi.

The legal name for NHS Dorset will remain as the Dorset Primary Care Trust.