THE region has escaped the worst of the GP crisis gripping other parts of England, according to official figures.

There have been growing protests that patients are unable to book routine appointments with family doctors, after a squeeze on funding surgeries.

And, yesterday (Friday, June 19), Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt promised a “new deal” to tackle the problem, recruiting an extra 5,000 new GPs and another 5,000 support staff, including practice nurses.

Mr Hunt also highlighted “under-doctored areas”, with too few GPs – where trainee medics may be offered “golden hellos” to tempt them to move there.

But the figures show that clinical commissioning group (CCGs) in the North-East and North Yorkshire boast significantly more GPs than the national average.

That average is 0.58 family doctors per 1,000 patients – falling as low as 0.4 per 1,000 in the worst-hit areas, mainly in London.

But only Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees CCG has a figure as low as 0.58, with Sunderland (0.6), North Durham (0.61) and South Tees (0.62) the next lowest,

The highest number of GPs are in South Tyneside (0.71 per 1,000), Newcastle Gateshead (0.70), Scarborough and Ryedale (0.69), Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield (0.67) and Harrogate and Rural District (0.67).

Yet, last year, an official survey found that one in eight patients in the North-East and North Yorkshire are unable to book a slot at a surgery when they need one.

Patients are being turned away on several million occasions each year across the region, according to the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).

Announcing his “new deal”, Mr Hunt said doctors would be required to accept plans for weekend opening, which involves groups of practices pooling together to share the extended hours.

Urging GPs to work with him, he said: “Within five years, we will need to look after a million more over-70s.

“Put simply, if we do not find better, smarter ways to help our growing elderly population remain healthy and independent, our hospitals will be overwhelmed.”

But Richard Vautrey the British Medical Association (BMA) representative for Yorkshire, said Mr Hunt’s announcement was mainly “the emperor’s new clothes”.

He added: “It’s heartening that he has recognised the problem, but disappointing that he has not worked out a financial solution to address it.

“People in parts of Yorkshire are struggling to get a routine appointment in the daytime, because doctors tend to gravitate to more affluent areas in the South-East.”

More than one in 10 GP training places remained vacant last year and a third of GPs have said they are considering retiring in the next five years – with and one in 10 thinking about moving abroad.