Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice

Level 2 l Upper intermediate

1 Warmer
What do you know about Cornwall? Choose the correct answers.

1. Cornwall is an English village / county.

2. Cornwall is in the southwest / northeast of England.
3. Cornish is one of the six Celtic / Germanic languages.
4. In the past, Cornwall was famous for tin / coal mining.
5. Cornwall has 7 / 697 km of coastline

2 Key words
Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text. The paragraph numbers are given to
help you.

thriving surgery practice influx rural

evolve admin picturesque kickstart under-resourced

1. A __________________________ is a place where people can visit a doctor or a dentist. (para 1)

2. A __________________________ place is attractive, especially because it is old and interesting. (para 2)
3. If you __________________________ something, you make it improve or become more active after it has
stopped or slowed down. (para 3)
4. __________________________ refers to the countryside. (para 4)
5. An __________________________ service does not have enough money or equipment to operate efficiently.
(para 4)
6. A __________________________ community is very successful. (para 5)
7. An __________________________ is the arrival of a large number of people in a particular place. (para 5)
8. A __________________________ is the business of a doctor, lawyer or other professional person. (para 6)
9. __________________________ is the activities involved in managing a business, organization or institution.
(para 7)
10. If things __________________________, they gradually change and develop over a period of time. (para 7)

3 Find the information

Find the following information in the text as quickly as possible.
1. When will Dr Katherine James leave the surgery in Mevagissey?
2. How far is Mevagissey from the nearest town?
3. What is the population of Mevagissey?
4. How many patients are registered with the local doctor’s surgery?
5. How long has the NHS (the National Health Service) existed?
6. How long did Dr Behennah work at the surgery?
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NEWS LESSONS / Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice / Upper intermediate
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 Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice
Level 2 l Upper intermediate
Cornish village hopes to charm new
GP into taking over practice
Frances Perraudin
6 June, 2019
1 In May, 2019, the well-respected partner of the
doctor’s surgery in the Cornish fishing village of
Mevagissey, Dr Katherine James, announced she
would be ending her contract to run the surgery
on 31 July. Now it is feared the much-loved
community surgery could close and its 5,300
patients be forced to use the infrequent and
expensive bus service to travel elsewhere
for treatment.
2 So the residents of Mevagissey, which is eight
miles south of St Austell, the nearest medium-
sized town, have taken action. Their “Will you be
my GP?” campaign aims to persuade doctors
around the country that they should make
the picturesque fishing village, with its narrow
winding streets, their home. In a campaign video,
a crowd of residents chant: “Be our GP. We are a
lovely community. We need you.”
3 Kim Andrews, who kickstarted the campaign,
said, “There might be a doctor out there who had
never thought about moving to Cornwall. Maybe
they think of Cornwall as somewhere they go on
holiday. I think the first step is to remind them that
we’re here and it’s a lovely place to live.”
4 The problem facing Mevagissey – with its
population of around 2,000 – is not a unique
one for rural communities. One hundred and
thirty-eight doctors’ surgeries closed in 2018,
compared with 18 in 2013. Smaller surgeries –
those serving 5,000 or fewer patients – were the
worst affected in 2018, with 86% of closures.
Many surgeries close because they are
under-resourced or because they cannot recruit
new doctors.
5 Mevagissey is a thriving fishing community,
the second biggest fishing port in Cornwall. As
well as the retired population, there are young
families living there. There are 5,300 patients
on the surgery’s lists from both the village and
© Springer Nature Limited 2019. Macmillan Education is part of the Springer Nature Group.
NEWS LESSONS / Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice / Upper intermediate
the surrounding areas, but, during the summer
months, there is an influx of tourists who often
need medical care. The campaign has already
led to some expressions of interest, though they
said they could not go into detail.
6 Dr Marlene Behennah worked at Mevagissey
Surgery for 30 years until 2002. “I’m very, very
sad about this,” she said of the possibility the
surgery will close. “This is my life’s work.” The
problem is, she said, that not enough doctors
want to become partners, which involves taking
on the responsibility for the running of the
practice. Figures by NHS England show there
were 179 closures of contracts to run medical
practices in 2017–18, compared with 107 the
year before. Mevagissey Surgery had been
advertising for a new partner for years before the
decision was made to end the contract.
7 Behennah said the increasing amounts of admin
are putting people off. “If you’re a young doctor
and you have a family, you don’t want, when
you’ve finished at the end of the day, to spend
two hours collecting data for the government. The
National Health Service, over its 70 years, has
evolved,” she said. “Every generation does things
differently. Things have got to evolve, and people
have probably got to be prepared to accept a
different sort of healthcare.” But, she says, rural
communities are neglected. “What works for
London – drop-in centres and so on – doesn’t
work for an area like this. Public transport is not
good; people can’t travel long distances.”
8 Aza Adlam, an arts and crafts teacher, moved
to Mevagissey in 2015 after falling in love with it
while on holiday. “It’s a genuine community here,”
she said. “It takes half an hour to go somewhere
that should take five minutes because everyone
talks to you. It’s just got a real warmth about it.” A
new doctor would be welcomed with open arms,
“not just because of what they do but because we
love it when people come and live here”.
© Guardian News and Media 2019
First published in The Guardian, 06/06/19
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Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice
Level 2 l Upper intermediate
4 Comprehension check
Are these statements true (T) or false (F) according to the text?

1. The residents of Mevagissey have started a campaign to attract a new doctor to their local surgery.
2. There is a frequent, cheap bus service from Mevagissey to the nearest town.
3. The problem that Mevagissey has is a unique one.
4. Most of the closures of doctors’ surgeries in 2018 were in smaller surgeries.
5. Partners in medical practices have to take on responsibility for the running of the practice.
6. It takes people half an hour to walk anywhere in Mevagissey because the streets are narrow and winding.

5 Find the word

Find the following words and phrases in the text.

1. an adjective meaning not happening very often (para 1)

2. a noun meaning someone who lives in a particular place (para 2)
3. a noun meaning a series of actions intended to produce political or social change (para 2)
4. a verb meaning get someone to work in a company or join an organization (para 4)
5. a two-word phrasal verb meaning make someone not want to do something (para 7)
6. a verb meaning fail to look after something that should be looked after (para 7)
7. a three-word noun phrase meaning a place where people can go to get medical treatment without having to
make an appointment first (para 7)
8. a four-word verb phrase meaning give someone a warm and enthusiastic welcome (para 8)

6 Prefixes
Match the prefixes in the left-hand column with the words in the right-hand column to make words from
the text.

1. well- a. sized
2. medium- b. resourced
3. much- c. respected
4. under- d. loved
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NEWS LESSONS / Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice / Upper intermediate
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 Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice
Level 2 l Upper intermediate
7 Word-building
Complete the table using words from the text.

verb noun
1. close
2. treat
3. express
adjective noun
5. warm
6. responsible
6. possible

8 Discussion
Discuss the statements.

• Doctors should be paid extra to work in rural communities.

• Too many tourists can be a problem.

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NEWS LESSONS / Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice / Upper intermediate
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Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice
Level 2 l Upper intermediate
KEY

1 Warmer 5 Find the word

1. county 1. infrequent
2. southwest 2. resident
3. Celtic 3. campaign
4. tin 4. recruit
5. 697 5. put off
6. neglect
7. drop-in centre
2 Key words 8. welcome with open arms

1. surgery
2. picturesque 6 Prefixes
3. kickstart
4. rural 1. c
5. under-resourced 2. a
6. thriving 3. d
7. influx 4. b
8. practice
9. admin
10. evolve 7 Word-building

1. closure
3 Find the information 2. treatment
3. expression
1. 31 July, 2019 4. warmth
2. eight miles 5. responsibility
3. about 2,000 6. possibility
4. 5,300
5. 70 years
6. 30 years

4 Comprehension check

1. T
2. F
3. F
4. T
5. T
6. F
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NEWS LESSONS / Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice / Upper intermediate
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