Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice

Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / 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. 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 will help you.

resident infrequent campaign surgery picturesque

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

2. An ____________________ bus or train service does not run very often. (para 1)

3. A ____________________ is someone who lives in a particular place. (para 2)

4. A ____________________ is a series of actions that tries to produce political or social change. (para 2)

5. A ____________________ place is attractive, especially because it is old and interesting. (para 2)

practice chant rural admin community

6. If you ____________________, you shout a word or phrase many times. (para 2)

7. A ____________________ is the people who live in an area. (para 2)

8. ____________________ refers to the countryside and is the opposite of urban. (para 4)

9. A ____________________ is the business of a doctor, lawyer or other professional person. (para 6)

10. ____________________ is the activities involved in managing a business, organization or institution. (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 did Dr Behennah work at the surgery?
6. How long has the NHS (the National Health Service) existed?
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NEWS LESSONS / Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
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Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
Cornish village hopes to charm new
GP into taking over practice
Frances Perraudin
6 June, 2019
1 In May, 2019, a partner of the doctor’s surgery
in the Cornish fishing village of Mevagissey, Dr
Katherine James, announced she would end her
contract to run the surgery on 31 July. People
there are worried that their surgery could close. If
that happens, its 5,300 patients will have to use
the infrequent and expensive bus service to travel
to other places for treatment.
2 Now 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 doctor?” campaign is trying to persuade
doctors around the country that they should make
the picturesque fishing village their home. In a
campaign video, a crowd of residents chant: “Be
our doctor. We are a lovely community. We
need you.”
3 Kim Andrews, who started 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 Mevagissey has – with its
population of around 2,000 – is a common
one for rural communities. One hundred and
thirty-eight doctors’ surgeries closed in 2018,
compared with 18 in 2013. 86% of surgeries that
closed were smaller surgeries – those with 5,000
or fewer patients. Many surgeries close because
they do not have enough money or because they
cannot find new doctors.
5 Mevagissey is a busy fishing community, the
second biggest fishing port in Cornwall. As well
as retired people, there are young families living
© 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 / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
there. There are 5,300 patients on the surgery’s
lists from both the village and the surrounding
areas, but, during the summer months, a lot
of tourists arrive and they often need medical
care. The campaign has already led to some
expressions of interest.
6 Dr Marlene Behennah worked at Mevagissey
Surgery for 30 years until 2002. “I’m very sad
about this,” she said of the possibility the surgery
will close. The problem is, she said, that not
enough GPs want to become partners, which
involves the responsibility of running the practice.
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 changed,” she said. “Every generation does
things differently. Things have got to change,
and people have probably got to be prepared to
accept a different sort of healthcare.” But, she
says, it’s difficult for rural communities. “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, a teacher, moved to Mevagissey in
2015 after falling in love with it while on holiday.
“It’s a real 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 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
4 Comprehension check
Match the beginnings and endings to make statements about the text.

1. The residents of Mevagissey have started a. … were in smaller surgeries.

a campaign …
2. Most of the closures of doctors’ surgeries in 2018 …
3. Partners in medical practices are …
4. Many surgeries close because …
5. It takes a long time to walk anywhere
in Mevagissey …
6. Drop-in centres like those in London …
b. … because people want to talk to you.
c. … to attract a new doctor to their local surgery.
d. … don’t work in rural communities like Mevagissey.
e. … responsible for running the practice.
f. … they cannot find new doctors.

5 Chunks
Rearrange the words to make phrases from the text.

1. medium- the town nearest sized

2. south miles of Austell eight St
3. to lovely a live place
4. biggest Cornwall the in port fishing second
5. the day end at of the
6. community a fishing busy

6 Two-word expressions
Match the words in the left-hand column with the words in the right-hand column to make expressions from
the text.

1. fishing a. community
2. young b. care
3. rural c. centre
4. surrounding d. families
5. medical e. port
6. drop-in f. area
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NEWS LESSONS / Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
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 Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
7 Word-building
Complete the table using words from the text.

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

8 Discussion
• Is it better to work in a large city or in a small village? Give reasons.

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NEWS LESSONS / Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
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Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
KEY

1 Warmer 5 Chunks

1. county 1. the nearest medium-sized town

2. southwest 2. eight miles south of St Austell
3. 697 3. a lovely place to live
4. the second biggest fishing port in Cornwall
5. at the end of the day
2 Key words 6. a busy fishing community

1. surgery
2. infrequent 6 Two-word expressions
3. resident
4. campaign 1. e
5. picturesque 2. d
6. chant 3. a
7. community 4. f
8. rural 5. b
9. practice 6. c
10. admin

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

4 Comprehension check

1. c
2. a
3. e
4. f
5. b
6. d
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NEWS LESSONS / Cornish village hopes to charm new GP into taking over practice / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
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