PATIENTS could face longer waits to see their doctor unless urgent action is taken to boost the number of GPs in the region.

Doctors say that efforts to increase GP numbers are failing to keep pace with resignations and retirements.

A senior GP warned that unless substantial investment was ploughed into primary care, the quality of service would be hit.

Alarming new statistics show that efforts to bring the number of GPs in the North-East up to the national average have largely failed.

There are currently 61 GP vacancies in a region which already has fewer family doctors per head of the population than almost anywhere else in England.

The Government is hoping to recruit 10,000 more doctors within the next decade, but GPs are warning that things will probably get worse before they get better.

And if patients think it is difficult to get in to see the doctor now, it could get worse as waves of older GPs opt for early retirement.

Because of high levels of deprivation in much of the North-East, GPs have to work harder than their counterparts in the South.

Yet patient lists per doctor in many parts of the region are far higher than the national average of 1,800.

And despite efforts by health authorities to attract new blood, a survey by The Northern Echo has shown that in a large area stretching from Tyneside to North Yorkshire there are scores of vacancies.

The worst affected area is Teesside where nearly one in ten GP posts is unfilled.

Even in relatively affluent North Yorkshire there are 11 vacancies.

While there are lower vacancy levels in Newcastle and North Tyneside (six), Sunderland (five), County Durham and Darlington (four), and Gateshead and South Tyneside (three), many areas are "under-doctored" with too few GPs to match the population.

Dr John Canning, a GP in Middlesbrough where there are 27 unfilled family doctor vacancies, said: "This is not just a local issue, it is an issue for the whole country and really there is nothing effectively being done to address the problem.

"I don't know of any GP over 60 who is planning to stay on and I know a lot who are thinking of going a lot sooner."

The situation "may well get worse before it gets better," he added.

What was really needed was the kind of massive investment in primary care that is currently being seen in hospitals, said Dr Canning.

Dr Andrew Sanderson, vice-chairman of County Durham Local Medical Committee, said the health authority had done well to entice more doctors to the area, but they were swimming against a strong tide.

"The problem is, we are running out of time - and rapidly running out of doctors," said Dr Sanderson, 55, who plans to retire at 60.

Dr Ian Ruffett, spokesman for County Durham and Darlington Health Authority, said successful efforts had been made to encourage younger GPs to settle in the region on short-term contracts and as salaried GPs.

"We are not going to have enough GPs, ever. What we will have is different ways of providing primary care," he said.

But it was vital to retain enough GPs to get through the next few years, he added.

"We have patches where significant numbers of GPs are over 55. Easington is a particular hot spot, and if they all decide to retire it does create a crisis."