Some £10 million in emergency cash is being pumped into the health service in Wales to help it get through the winter amid a critical GP shortage, it has been announced.

Large parts of the country have been without GP night and weekend cover as out of hours services have struggled to find staff.

Welsh health secretary Vaughan Gething said that advance planning – backed by £50 million – had proved inadequate for the pressures this winter.

He promised further relaxations of the rules surrounding the Quality and Outcomes Framework to help reduce pressure on practices. The changes apply until the end of March.

He said: “Despite this significant investment, what we have seen in the recent days is a system that is under extreme pressure. During this challenging period, I want to provide the NHS in Wales with an extra £10 million of new investment to help front line staff care for our patients through this winter.

“We know both primary care and A&E services across Wales are currently extremely busy. The ambulance service has reported increases of up to 50% in life threatening incidents when compared to last year at times over Christmas. Our 111 service received twice as many calls as predicted on New Year’s Day and the Out of Hours service continues to face huge demands. This additional funding will go some way in helping relieve the pressure on the system.”

Welsh British Medical Association chair Dr David Bailey said: “GPs are very worried about patient safety and putting themselves in a professionally compromising situation. Every GP does their best but with the current pressures on the system alongside problems recruiting doctors, many GPs are struggling to manage the demand.”

Royal College of GPs Welsh chair Dr Rebecca Payne said: “At the start of last month RCGP Wales raised concerns that not enough GPs were being included in winter pressure planning and this needs to change.

“The extra funding is of course welcome. We hope the money is not swallowed up in wider budgets; we urge health boards to allocate specific funding to support general practice and out of hours services which are under enormous strain.”

She added: “A thriving primary care sector will deliver care in people’s communities and keep patients out of hospitals, to the benefit of the entire Welsh NHS.”