Two Spanish GPs will arrive in Bradford next month as part of an international recruitment scheme.

The female family doctors - Arantxa De Los Mozos Hernandez and Marta Sanchez Hernandez - have been appointed to work for Bradford City Teaching Primary Care Trust.

They will be based within inner-city GPs practices to try to combat a shortage of family doctors - 22 more are needed in the city.

As part of the same scheme, another Spanish doctor will come to work at North Kirklees Primary Care Trust while two more will be employed by the Wakefield West trust.

Lynn Stinson, head of the Bradford Teaching Trust, said: "We are delighted to welcome them to the trust. They are really enthusiastic and keen to further their careers in another country's practices.

"They will boost our numbers of female GPs within the trust and so increase access for female patients."

The doctors will arrive here next month to undergo a four-month induction covering issues such as language, personal development and educational support.

After the induction the doctors are expected to be given 12-month contracts with the trust.

The Government-funded recruitment scheme began when health bosses travelled to Madrid in June to interview 14 applicants.

Seven of those were invited back to West Yorkshire for an induction and assessment weekend last month. Their language and clinical skills were tested and they visited GP practices in all three trusts.

They also went sightseeing, visiting Saltaire, Leeds and Ilkley Moor. The group was also taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary and Airedale General Hospital.

After the visit, five of the GPs were appointed by the trusts.

The international recruitment scheme follows an Anglo-Spanish agreement signed by former Health Secretary Alan Milburn three years ago.

Spain was chosen in the search for doctors because the Spanish medical training system is very similar to that in the UK and there are many doctors in the country.