A group of GPs are taking a funding cut to help out more poorly-paid practices in the city.

Some 20 practices have agreed to the cut as part of a pay shake-up which will see other surgeries getting an increase of £8 a patient from April 1.

Poorer funded GPs will now receive a minimum of £71.21 per patient – higher than the national average of £63.21. Until now some surgeries have received less per patient registered with them than others.

This is because different types of GP contracts introduced over several years have left some practices being paid more.

The funding cuts agreed by GPs total £440,000, which is being boosted by £350,000 from the primary care trust NHS Leicester City, and redistributed to the poorer funded practices.

It has taken two years to reach the ground-breaking deal, thought to be the first of its kind in the country.

Dr Bhupendra Modi, who runs the Canon Street surgery in Belgrave and Northern Heights in Northfields, has agreed to take a cut of about £2 per patient.

He said: "I don't think any other area in the country has done this.

"I see it as an important thing to do to see if we can help improve the quality of primary care in the city."

Angela Lennox, a GP in the St Matthew's area of the city, who supports the move, said: "It is very difficult to know how much a patient costs – poorer ones tend to be more ill. It says an awful lot about the character and commitment of GPs in the city to look maturely at limited resources to make sure patients get the best care possible."

Surgeries getting the increase will only be allowed to spend the extra cash on things that make it easier for people to see their doctor and expanding services. It cannot be used to bump up GP income, surgery equipment, telephone systems or decoration and improvements.

The reductions vary between each practice and each has been individually agreed. One practice which was getting a rate of £122.80 will now get a little over £113.

Some have also agreed to put a little extra in a pot to help colleagues. The deal has been brokered between GPs, the local medical committee which represents doctors and the primary care trust. The talks began in a bid to narrow the gap in funding which was due to historical differences in the contracts GPs have.

Toby Sanders, director of primary care at NHS Leicester City, said: "This is a package to extract cash to reinvest in the poorest practices."

Jenny Girling, from the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland local medical committee, said: "We are very pleased that after months of difficult negotiations that we have reached a local agreement."

See what your Leicester GP surgery is paid, click here.