LOCAL HERO
Along with friends and fellow residents, Kim Andrews helped campaign to keep the local GP surgery in Mevagissey
How the village of Mevagissey worked together to save their GP surgery
Eleven years ago, I moved from the New Forest, bought a motorhome and started travelling. I’d been made redundant after a 25-year career in IT. One afternoon, I found myself in a quayside cafe in Mevagissey, a tiny fishing village in Cornwall. Having travelled extensively, I always ask myself, ‘Could I live here?’ at each new destination. Looking out at the boats sat calmly in the water, with cottages round the bay, ‘Yes’ came my answer. Before long I was renting a flat, volunteering with the RNLI and had found a job, running Boots pharmacy in neighbouring St Blazey.
Through my work, I am well aware of how important local care is in a small community. I know my own patients well and will always be a listening ear. So when I learnt in
May 2019 that the Mevagissey GP surgery was under threat of closure, I felt a deep concern. Having been running the practice single-handedly, serving 5,300 patients, the local GP Dr James had decided to leave. With no one at the helm, it would be closed by August and patients would have to travel further to see a doctor. Expecting an elderly person, perhaps walking with a stick, or young mums, to struggle their way to more distant districts, catching buses that run only once an hour, would be a huge blow to many.
One thing I know from building a new life is that it’s always worth trying to change a situation that isn’t right – it’s surprising how often it comes off! A support group called Friends of the Surgery or
FOTS was already on the case.
They had made placards saying,
‘Will you be my GP?’ My friend
James Mustoe, a Cornwall councillor, and I immediately saw the potential for a hashtag. I offered to start a Twitter account and Facebook page. I was using my background in IT to contribute, but everyone in the village was also using whatever skill set they had, holding meetings and placing posters in windows.
I thought a ‘beach write’ seemed like a good idea, given our location. Photos of the message in the sand went out on social media. Soon we were inundated with media interest from Radio 4, The Guardian
– even CNN. GPS replied on Twitter and, meanwhile, the local MP Steve Double was taking our predicament to the House of Commons.
Then, almost as quickly as it had started, the campaign was over – we had rescued the GP service.
I was thankful, but also gobsmacked! A Cornish surgery in Cambourne had entered discussions about working jointly with Dr James, and she reversed her decision to leave. It was an amazing result, spurred by the positivity and passion of local people. What a whirlwind of a summer it was. To take on something so important with friends, and win, was thrilling. Now, I would always get on board with anything of similar importance. There will always be a minority of people who say, ‘That will never work.’ But you might just find that community spirit is alive and well, as it is in Mevagissey!
Find out more about village life at facebook.com/mevagisseyweb