Hospitals in the region will be lucky if any of the new crop of German consultants are seeing patients before the year is out, it was revealed last night.

Dr Peter Royle, medical director of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust, organised the recent trip to Berlin in search of new hospitals specialists to fill the 100 vacant consultant posts in the region's NHS.

While Dr Royle was pleased at how the pioneering careers fair went he has warned that everyone will have to be patient.

"The process is so slow that if we can get them to start by the end of this year it will be a result," said Dr Royle, who organised the event on behalf of the NHS.

Despite any previous interview which may have taken place the German candidate will have to be formally re-interviewed at the hospital before they can be offered the position.

So far five of the 16 hospital trusts which attended the Berlin careers fair have confirmed arrangements for prospective consultants to visit them.

Three mental health trusts also attended.

Four German doctors who are interested in working as GPs in the North-East are due to visit Sunderland, which has one of the most acute shortages of family doctors in England.

Dr Royle believes that the German connection will play a useful role in plugging gaps until the UK can produce more of its own doctors.

"We would want to go back again, possibly to the western side of Germany next time," said Dr Royle.

Around 65 doctors came to the Berlin careers fair and around 100 are said to be still actively interested in working in the Northern and Yorkshire region.

Hospital representatives from Darlington, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Hartlepool and Scarborough all attended the Berlin careers fair, which was held in the British Embassy.