MORE Spanish doctors flew into the North-East last night as part of plans to boost the region's dwindling medical workforce.

The ten GPs who are interested in working on Teesside are meeting health officials and looking around the area.

If they like what they see and meet NHS requirements, they could soon be working in surgeries in Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Stockton and Redcar.

The new influx of Spanish doctors follow hard on the heels of six of their compatriots who have been signed up to work in County Durham and Darlington.

Some of the Spaniards working in Durham have said the extra resources being pumped into the NHS and the difficulty of obtaining long-term work contracts in Spain, made the UK very attractive.

Mary Bewley, spokeswoman for the four Primary Care Trusts which run GP services on Teesside, said: "It is an exploratory visit, nothing has been confirmed."

As part of a schedule the Spanish doctors will be shown around typical North-East GP practices and given a brief introduction into what the region has to offer.

Tonight, they will attend a reception at Middlesbrough's Riverside football stadium.

The Government is keen to bring in well-qualified medical and nursing staff to plug gaps in the NHS.

Recently, the first consignment of 50 nurses from the Philippines began work on the wards at the University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham City.

Nurses from Spain are already working on the heart unit at James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, and German hospital consultants are being lined up to fill vacant posts at North-East trusts.