GPs go beyond the call of their duties.

Byline: By Liz Hands

Two family doctors are setting up a private out-of-hours service because they say the National Health Service isn't meeting patients' needs.

GPs David Jones and David Grainger are calling their company Beyond General Practice (BGP).

They will be charging prospective patients pounds 30 a month ( for appointment times in the evenings and at weekends and an out-of-hours service where patients will get straight through to a GP, who will visit their home within an hour if necessary.

The move ( believed to be unique in the UK ( was described last night as "inevitable" by Berwick MP Alan Beith, who has been campaigning for better NHS out-of-hours care since changes to GP contracts two years ago, which mean patients are no longer seen during evenings and weekends by their own family doctors. National figures show the average wait for a doctor to return an out-of-hours call is two hours and an additional wait for a home visit is nearly six hours.

"This was bound to happen as a result of the reduced level of out-of-hours service provided within the NHS," said Mr Beith.

"But people should not have to be paying for the type of service that should be offered ( and was offered a couple of years ago ( within the NHS.

"It's a mark of the failure of the NHS to provide an adequate level of service."

Dr Grainger said he and Dr Jones, who currently practice in Throckley, were still "staunch advocates" of the NHS and were launching the service as an "add-on" to existing services. But he added: "It's becoming increasingly difficult for people with busy lives to get appointments to see their GP or to get a doctor's visit during the night."

Dr Jones said: "Being able to pick up the phone during the night and get through to a doctor straight away, and then have that same doctor visit you at home is something that people liked best about their health service in the past ( but it's not like that anymore. That's why we decided to offer a new service, taking the best of how things used to be and making them work in the modern world."

The BGP clinic will be based in Jesmond, Newcastle, for appointments and the areas covered by its out-of-hours service will be Newcastle, Gateshead, North and South Tyneside, and also taking in the Tyne Valley, Morpeth, Ashington, Ponteland, Chester-le-Street and Washington.

The doctors have pledged to put up to 5% of net profits back into local community-related health projects.

More information is available at www.beyondgeneralpractice.com or [phone].