A GOVERNMENT task force has been drafted in to the battle against hospital bed-blocking in the North-East.

The arrival of the specialist Department of Health team is part of County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority's Local Delivery Plan for 2003-2006.

It will lead to changes in the way health services are delivered to millions of people.

On Teesside, it will involve a "whole systems review" of health and social care services across the Tees Valley.

Although the local NHS has a strong reputation for delivering high quality care, officials say there is a need to do things differently to meet challenging targets facing the local health service.

One of the most important changes is a plan to increase the number of GPs who can provide services normally carried out by hospital-based consultants.

Planners forecast there will be an 8.5 per cent increase in the number of procedures carried out by primary care staff over the next three years and a 35 per cent increase in the number of patients seen by a consultant at their local GP surgeries.

There are also plans to improve facilities at existing surgeries to allow more conditions to be diagnosed and treated by GPs.

Health officials say the Government task force, known as a Change Agent Team, will help local agencies tackle the problem of bed-blocking, which has led to cancelled operations.

Despite an acknowledgement that the NHS in County Durham and Tees Valley remains 151 hospital beds short of what it needs, the authority believes that other measures can be used rather than building extra wards.

Bosses say there is scope to increase day case operations, use operating theatres more efficiently and reduce lengths of stay for patients.

But officials have warned that recruiting medical staff needed to meet targets will be "extremely challenging".

Problem areas for recruiting in the past year have included plastic surgery.