Villagers are campaigning to save their local surgery after it emerges the practice will close if a new GP can’t step in when the current doctor retires in July
- The only doctor at the Mevagissey surgery in Cornwall is leaving in July
- Unless she can be replaced, it will close, leaving the 5,300 patients without a GP
- Residents have started a ‘Will You Be My GP’ campaign to attract a doctor
Patients in a remote Cornish fishing village are desperately campaigning to find a GP.
The only doctor at the Mevagissey surgery is leaving in July and unless she can be replaced, it will close.
There are 5,300 patients in the village, near Saint Austell, many of whom are elderly and unable to drive.
Plea: Campaigners outside the surgery at Mevagissey where the practice’s single practitioner is about to retire
They have started a ‘Will You Be My GP’ campaign on social media in the hope of attracting a doctor.
Resident Nicola Mason said: ‘Me and my son both suffer from severe asthma and require quite frequently the aid of a nebuliser that we can pop down and use as soon as possible when we need it.
‘This is – and has been – a life saver to us. Without the surgery we will face longer travel and have to wait to get life-saving treatment.’
There are 5,300 patients in the village, near Saint Austell, many of whom are elderly and unable to drive
Ken Sweet, 86, who lives nearby, but was born in Mevagissey, said: ‘My wife and I have been patients for 30 years and it’s difficult to get into another surgery.
‘As you get older you need more regular care and it’s very worrying we might not be able to get it.’