FAMILY doctors in one of the North-East's health blackspots are to benefit from a £25m scheme to boost primary care.

Health bosses and under-strength doctors on Wearside hope the scheme will lead to a large injection of new medical talent.

For years, family doctors in Sunderland have been struggling to cope with high demand for services in an area which has fewer GPs per head of the population than most parts of the UK.

Now Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced that help is on its way. During a speech about the future of primary care, the MP for Sedgefield announced that £25m in development funds would go to three disadvantaged areas, Sunderland, Salford and Bradford.

The money will be used over three years to set up the first of a series of Teaching Primary Care Trusts - like teaching hospitals in the acute sector - for doctors and nurses who work in primary care.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said the cash would be used to develop the skills of GPs, and act as centres of learning.

The teaching trusts will also provide attractive career options for GPs, nurses and other health professionals.

David Wardill, chairman of Sunderland West Primary Care Trust, which will run the new project, said: "This scheme will improve the expertise of healthcare staff, lighten the doctors' workload, and reduce the time it takes to see GPs."

Dr Brian Posner, secretary of Sunderland Local Medical Committee, said: "It has to be good news for the area. Academic work is important for raising the profile, but we still need to recruit rank-and-file GPs.