Health minister Jane Hutt wants better performances

Ms Hutt said the money will be targeted at recruitment and retention, out of hours services, innovative community health teams and delivering welfare rights advice.

The announcement follows an 10-year plan, unveiled in February, aimed at delivering better standards of healthcare in Wales.

The plan suggested many GPs could become salaried employees, while others could be based at supermarket surgeries to make them more accessible to the public.

On Tuesday, Ms Hutt visited GP surgeries in the Cynon Valley, which is one of the areas of south Wales which has been hardest-hit by problems in recruiting GPs.

In that area, seven out of every 10 doctors are approaching retirement age, and a third of the GP practices are run by doctors working on their own.

Directly employed

GPs have traditionally been self-employed and as such expected to invest substantial funds to become a partner in an established practice.

However, in an attempt to improve health care in the Cynon Valley, some doctors and nurses are now directly employed by the health authority.

"We are determined to recruit the best medical and nursing graduates, as well as motivating and retaining our existing workforce," said Ms Hutt.

A 10-year plan aims to improve standards

"That is why I have allocated �1m to assist with the recruitment and retention of GPs, and I will be asking the profession to work closely with the Assembly to develop the best ways to use this money.

"I am also committing a further �1m to developing better co-ordination and delivery of out-of-hours services.

"Modern primary care requires modern, quality premises, and input from a range of professionals.

"While the current independent contractor status of GPs serves us well, I also believe that we need to explore options such as salaried status."

The Welsh Assembly has revealed it is pumping an extra �1bn into the health service, increasing the budget to �3.6bn by 2003.

In return, health minister Jane Hutt is expecting to see radical improvements in performance.

In February, she announced the scrapping of all five Welsh health authorities - wiping out a costly tier of management.

The authorities are being replaced by beefed-up local health groups, while the assembly is due to play an enhanced role in health delivery.