A PRIVATE health company has defended itself after it emerged that a North-East GP was asked to handle out-of-hours calls from Wales.

Details about the case, which involved an 84-year-old heart attack victim in the Rhondda Valley, surfaced amid speculation that all out-of-hours GP care could soon be run by the private sector.

Since GPs opted out of weekend and evening working, out-of-hours care has become the responsibility of local primary care trusts.

In many areas, including much of the North-East, this has involved local NHS organisations paying private health provider Primecare for out-of-hours cover.

In a story that made headlines in Wales last October, it was Primecare which put the Welsh family through to a locum doctor in Cleveland, 300 miles away from the caller.

Although the Welsh family were astonished at being connected to a doctor in the North- East, they were more concerned at a two-hour delay before a local doctor could attend.

Primecare also provided weekend cover in the Sunderland area in May by flying in German GPs for the weekend, and putting them up in hotels.

A spokeswoman for Primecare said it was not unusual for callers to be referred to a doctor in another area.

However, calls were handled by qualified medics who could arrange for home visits by local staff.

Primecare provides out-of-hours support for many areas of the North-East, including Sunderland, Tees Valley and the Scarborough area.

The Primecare spokeswoman confirmed that German GPs were still providing weekend cover in some parts of the UK.

"There is a shortage of GPs in England," she said.

A spokesman for Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust declined to say whether German GPs were still providing cover in Wearside.

But he said: "It is the responsibility of Primecare to use whatever GP resources are available to them.

"The out-of-hours system in our area is operating very well."