THIRTEEN Spanish doctors are due to arrive in the North-East this weekend as part of the latest NHS recruitment drive.

The medics have all expressed an interest in working in County Durham and the visit is a chance for them to get to know the area.

Meanwhile, teams representing 16 hospital trusts from the Northern and Yorkshire region have attended a recruitment fair at the British Embassy in Berlin as part of a separate move to bring German consultants to the UK.

Dr Jose Miralles, a Spanish-born GP who has practised in Pelton, County Durham, for 13 years, is acting as a guide for this weekend's party of visiting medics.

"We will show them around a few surgeries and take them out and about to give them a taste of what life is like in the North-East," said Dr Miralles, who is married to an English nurse.

During their stay, some GPs will be be taken to watch Newcastle United's home game with West Ham tomorrow, while others will visit Gateshead's MetroCentre.

Apart from giving the Spanish doctors an idea of what they could be letting themselves in for, the medics will be further assessed by County Durham health officials.

Dr Miralles said he was impressed at the quality of the applicants, who were recruited during trips to Aragon and Madrid, and hoped many would be persuaded to stay and make a new life in England.

Recently, 11 Spanish nurses were taken on by the South Tees Hospitals Trust in Middlesbrough. Most of them are expected to work in the heart unit at James Cook University Hospital, which is expanding.

GP shortages are particularly acute across the North-East, and the region's hospitals find it difficult to attract applicants for a range of difficult-to-fill consultant posts.

The Government has pledged to recruit as many nurses and doctors as possible from abroad,as an interim measure while more British health workers are trained to work in an expanded NHS.