THE ambulance service has stepped in to handle emergency evening and night-time calls to doctors in North Yorkshire.

Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service has been awarded the contract to handle out-of-hours' GP calls in the county.

The contract was put out to tender after the private firm currently running the service, North Yorkshire Emergency Doctors, went into administration in December after running into financial difficulties.

The move secures the jobs of workers at the Emergency Doctors' York call centre who, from today, will work for the ambulance service.

Penny Jones, chief executive of Craven, Harrogate and Rural District Primary Care Trust, is the spokeswoman for the NHS project team responsible for reorganising out-of-hours cover.

She said: "This is an important step forward in securing and developing out-of-hours' services.

She said the ambulance service had an excellent reputation for dealing with front-line emergency services and their existing capabilities within the health service would enable them to deliver the highest quality of patient care.

She added: "I am also pleased that the award of this tender secures the jobs of call handling staff in York who have contributed so much to the service that patients receive.

Jayne Barnes, the ambulance service's chief executive, said she was delighted to have won the contract. She said: "It gives us a real opportunity to build on the contribution the emergency doctors call centre has made to the local health economy and we look forward to working with the doctors in providing excellent patient care."

The ambulance service currently provides a similar service in Hull and had also been awarded the contract to handle out-of-hours' calls in East Riding.

Administrator David Horner, of David Horner and Co, in York, said he was also in discussion with primary care trusts to safeguard the future of North Yorkshire Emergency Doctors staff working at health centres.