Hunt for real life Doc Martin: Cornish villagers write song in desperate bid to recruit new GP

A small town has resorted to writing a song and shooting a music video in a bid to bring a GP to their local area.

People in Lostwithiel, Cornwall, said their approach is an ‘innovative, yet increasingly desperate’ attempt to replace a GP who is retiring in just two weeks.

They have taken Lostwithiel Medical Practice recruitment matters ‘into their own hands – and voices’ after no doctors responded to adverts to treat it 5,000-strong community.

The song, set to the tune of Nina Simone’s ‘Ain’t Got No, I Got Life’ and sung by the local choir, pleads for a medic to treat ‘folks with asthma’, ‘young new mothers’ and ‘snot-filled others’. 

The video shows the town – located just 20 miles from Port Isaac, where ITV series Doc Martin is filmed – along with its school and businesses.

Locals hope it will reach doctors across the UK and ‘touch on the hearts of those professionals’ who are ready for ‘the joys of a life in Cornwall’.

People in Lostwithiel, Cornwall, said their approach is an ‘innovative, yet increasingly desperate’ attempt to replace a GP who is retiring in just two weeks

They have taken Lostwithiel Medical Practice recruitment matters ‘into their own hands – and voices’ after no doctors responded to adverts to treat it 5,000-strong community

The ‘Lostwithiel Needs a Doctor’ crusade was initiated by Dr Justin Hendriksz, the current remaining practice partner, who asked Really Lovely Projects, a local arts-led creative company, for help.

He felt a more creative approach was needed to find newly trained or existing GPs to care for the community.

The company created a campaign to ‘sing out to those with a vocation for General Practice’.

The video, which was created in less than two weeks, includes people from all walks of life in Lostwithiel, from the church to the butchers, all singing and dancing. 

Dr Hendriksz said: ‘Despite the beauty of rural Cornwall and the lively, positive community of Lostwithiel, as a medical practice we have struggled to recruit new GPs through the usual route of adverts in all of the relevant medical publications.

‘We’re all very aware of the alarming number of GPs leaving the sector, so we know we’re not the only practice to be finding it such a challenge to find the right incoming doctors.’

As of December, there were 36,622 GPs in England, equating to 27,375 full-time staff. 

Medics say there is a GP shortage and blame the Government for failing to hire and retain enough doctors. 

An increasing number of GPs are moving to part-time hours, which the British Medical Association says is down to job stress, burnout and ill health. 

The GP recruitment video filmed by the residents of Lostwithiel

The GP recruitment video filmed by the residents of Lostwithiel

The GP recruitment video filmed by the residents of Lostwithiel

The GP recruitment video filmed by the residents of Lostwithiel

Dr Hendriksz added: ‘We’re very proud of our historical work and service to our local Lostwithiel community and we really need to find our medical successors to take on our mission of treating patients with the “right person, in the right place, at the right time”. 

‘Of course I’m biased, but there really is nowhere better to be a GP, and myself and my outgoing team have always felt beyond valued and appreciated in this very special community.

‘The whole community has got behind this idea and I sincerely hope the campaign pop song and video reaches the right people to come and find their ultimate job and home right here in Lostwithiel.’

Dr William Howe, who will be retiring from the practice the end of March, said Lostwithiel, where he has worked for more than 30 years, is a ‘fantastic community’.

He said: ‘The medical practice has a great team and whoever is able to fill the new position will be extremely lucky, despite the current shared challenges in the profession at large.’

The GP recruitment video filmed by the residents of Lostwithiel

The GP recruitment video filmed by the residents of Lostwithiel

The GP recruitment video filmed by the residents of Lostwithiel

The GP recruitment video filmed by the residents of Lostwithiel

Norman Pendray, a local farmer and brass band leader, who took part in the video, said: ‘There are many reasons why Lostwithiel Medical Practice is the top one in Cornwall, not least because you can get same day appointments with sympathetic and skilled staff.

‘We are extremely fortunate to have such great service and look forward to welcoming Dr Howe’s replacement, and making them very much at home in our special Cornish community.’

Emma Mansfield, a spokesperson for Really Lovely Projects, said: ‘Our local GP contacted us and said he’d been trying to recruit for a new doctor and said he was having no luck and felt he had to do something quite radical.

‘Everywhere is finding it hard to find GPs at the moment, and we want an outstanding doctor who’s going to really stay here for 20 years.

‘We’re a very close knit community and I think everyone realises that once one of our two GPs goes, the fabulous service we receive will be cut by 50 per cent.

‘Being in Cornwall, we have a much higher aging population also.

‘Everybody came out and took part. It’s all locally made, a local musician did the backing track, the local choir sung it.’