GPs can opt-out of out-of-hours care under the new contract

Five GPs flew in from Frankfurt last weekend to provide medical care to patients living in Norfolk.

It followed the decision by some local GPs to opt-out of weekend work, which they are now entitled to do under their new NHS contract.

The doctors were paid up to �80 an hour, with the potential to earn up to �2,400 over the course of the weekend.

Contract changes

A new contract gives GPs the right for the first time to opt-out of providing care to patients when their surgery closes.

Primary care organisations are taking over responsibility for providing out-of-hours care.

The changes are being phased in over the course of this year. Some areas have already made the change, others will do it later this year.

Five of them flew in for the weekend Spokesman, Anglian Medical Care

West Norfolk Primary Care Trust has contracted Anglian Medical Care, which is run by East Anglian Ambulance Trust, to provide out-of-hours care to its patients.

Anglian Medical Care normally uses local GPs or those in surrounding areas to provide cover at evenings and at weekends.

Last weekend, it turned to a specialist recruitment agency when it was unable to fill gaps in its rotas. These agencies contacted doctors in Germany.

"Five of them flew in for the weekend," a spokesman for Anglian Medical Care, told BBC News Online.

"They cost exactly the same as local GPs and most had experience of working in England before."

He said the doctors had excellent English and were all registered to practise in the UK.

GP shortage

It comes less than a week after doctors at the British Medical Association's annual conference warned of a looming crisis in out-of-hours care.

"Part of the reason why some PCTs are employing GPs from Germany to provide out of hours cover is the national shortage of family doctors," said a spokeswoman for the BMA.

"We are trying to get to a situation where we don't have the same doctors working all night as well as all day.

"Until we get enough home-grown GPs in the workforce to deal with the workload, using the skills of doctors from other parts of Europe may form part of the out-of-hours care pattern in some parts of the country."

The Department of Health said it was committed to increasing the number of GPs.

"There are more GPs working in the NHS than ever before - 2,552 more than in 1997," said a spokesman.

"We are committed to ensuring that all NHS patients can access quality healthcare at all times and we have more than doubled the amount of money going into out of hours services this year.