ONE of the region's health bosses is to play a leading role in national negotiations to modernise the role of family doctors.

Mike Farrar, chief executive of Tees Health Authority, will lead a negotiating team from the NHS Confederation, which represents managers in the health service.

Family doctors will be represented by the General Practioners' Committee of the British Medical Association.

There is broad agreement that contractual arrangements, put in place at the creation of the NHShalf a century ago, need to be updated to meet modern conditions.

Once changes to GP contracts are agreed, officials from the Department of Health and devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will review the proposed changes.

However, the ultimate decision whether to accept the changes rests with Health Secretary Alan Milburn.

As the Department of Health's lead negotiator on primary care, Mr Farrar successfully worked with the BMA on the abolition of the controversial GP fund-holding scheme.

He was also heavily involved in the creation of Primary Care Groups and Trusts, which are intended to shift power in the NHS to front-line health workers.