The government is this weekend announcing extra funding towards the provision of out of hours healthcare.

A total £28 million will be allocated to primary care trusts from 2004 for two years.

In addition, ministers announced how the £110 million funding announced earlier this year towards out of hours services is to be spent.

The funds will be used to double out of hours care from £46 million to £92 million.

It will provide the technical infrastructure connecting the services to the NHS Direct facility.

"All of us want to know that if our child or parent is ill during the night there will be a health professional immediately available to provide the care they need," said health minister John Hutton on Saturday.

"The challenge of providing out of hours care is therefore one that affects us all. The Department of Health is determined to support local health providers in meeting this challenge.

"The resources are there, the expertise is there, and a lot of good work is already underway.

"We are fully committed to delivering the new GP contract on time so that all GPs, who wish to, can opt out of their out-of-hours responsibility from December 2004.

"This is an opportunity for PCTs to rethink the provision of out of hours services across their area and to coordinate this with other services, including A and E, social care and NHS walk-in centres."

Distribution of the funds will be based upon population need rather than the number of GPs as had previously been the case, Hutton argued.

"We want to move to a position where all PCTs will get a fair share of the OOH fund," he said.

"However, some, perhaps in rural and remote or deprived inner city areas, may need more help than others to deliver OOH care by next December.

"The £28 million will be used to support such areas.

"We also intend to continued 'ring-fencing' the money from the OOH fund to make sure patients get the maximum benefits from these resources."

The move has been welcomed by the National Association of GP Cooperatives.

"We are already working hard to prepare for next year and this extra money is a welcome addition to the resources already available to local areas," said chairman Dr Mark Reynolds.

"It is also greatly encouraging that these resources are assisting the complex process of building the technical infrastructure that will support out of hours services.

"Today's announcement illustrates how important it is for all local health providers to focus on the challenge of developing out of hours care and work together to meet next year's deadline."