GPs want the current family doctor service to be protected

Dr Hamish Meldrum told the British Medical Association's GP conference he was not opposed to using the private sector to provide NHS care.

But, to cheers from GPs, he asked for evidence it could be more efficient than the NHS.

The government is considering allowing private companies to provide services now offered by GP practices.

We must be allowed to compete on a level playing-field and not with one or both hands tied behind our back Dr Hamish Meldrum, British Medical Association

The private sector is already involved in building GP practices, in the same way that it is providing new hospital buildings.

It also provides some evening and weekend cover when NHS surgeries are closed.

But GPs are concerned over plans to expand private sector involvement in primary care, and about the possibility of the provision of extra funds - which they say has already happened in secondary care services.

'Destabilising'

Dr Meldrum, the leader of the UK's 43,000 GPs, said the government was "infatuated" with the private sector and said it appeared to be in a "headlong rush" to use it to provide NHS care.

He said there were concerns over whether the private sector would improve efficiency and provide value for money.

He added: "Where is the evidence? Even more particularly, where is the evidence that it will improve rather than destabilise our present system of general practice?"

Dr Meldrum, a GP in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, said: "I don't think we should be afraid of the principle of private sector involvement.

"I have confidence in the ability of UK general practice to compete. But there is one big proviso.

"We must be allowed to compete on a level playing-field and not with one or both hands tied behind our back.

"We have to ask, if the private sector is so wonderful, so efficient, so effective, why does it need to be given such a significant financial leg up?"

Dr Meldrum also called on the government to listen to the views of GPs as it developed a promised white paper on family health services.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "We want to give patients greater choice and a more personalised service within the NHS.

"This may involve bringing in other providers or asking existing providers to change their roles. The important fact is that healthcare remains free at the point of need."