TWO North-East primary care trusts (PCTs) are spearheading a revolution in general practice which could see private companies running new surgeries.

Hartlepool PCT and County Durham PCT are among the first four in the country to have been selected by the Department of Health for an experiment which could signal a new era of competition in general practice.

The four PCTs have been given permission to seek bids to open new GP surgeries under a new kind of contract called the Alternative Provider Medical Services.

It could lead to PCTs setting specific conditions such as longer opening hours.

It is expected that bids will come from independent health care providers, organisations run by charities or from existing GP practices.

The overall aim is to increase the number of GP practices in areas that are badly served for family doctors. It could result in some new surgeries opening in the evenings and weekends, putting pressure on existing local practices to do the same.

Dr Laurence Buckman, of the British Medical Association's GP committee, said; "We would be concerned if PCTs used this to get private providers in areas where NHS services already exist."

According to the Health Service Journal (HSJ), there have been 40 bids for the first wave of contracts, including PCTs in Great Yarmouth and Nottingham.

Independent providers Care UK, Chilvers McCrea and Clinovia have told the HSJ they are bidding for at least one contract.

Dr Andrew Sanderson, a recently retired GP in Spennymoor, County Durham, is concerned that the tendering scheme could lead to lower quality medical services, putting the public "at risk".

A Hartlepool PCT spokesman said that as part of the Fairness in Primary Care procurement programme, it had been developing plans to increase access to services.

The first part of the scheme includes a 4,500-patient GP practice in Wynyard Road Primary Care Centre and a 600-patient practice in Whitby Street, both Hartlepool, for people with drug and alcohol problems. Initially, the scheme also included a plan to open a practice close to the University Hospital of Hartlepool to improve urgent care access.

However, because of long-term plans to close the hospital and move secondary services out to a new North of Tees hospital, the PCT is working on an alternative scheme.

County Durham PCT declined to comment.