PATIENTS in West Somerset could be facing longer waits to see a doctor amid a looming recruitment crisis which recently saw three local practices chasing one GP.

And one Minehead practice has warned that unless seven of the town’s GPs who are heading for retirement can be replaced, patients might have to accept seeing medical staff other than doctors for some conditions and, in extreme circumstances, call an ambulance.

One in three posts for trainee GPs in the UK has not been filled, according to national figures, with junior doctors seeing better opportunities abroad or in big hospitals.

Now this has been brought into sharp local focus in Minehead where the town’s 6,800-patient Irnham Lodge practice has just spent over £3,000 advertising for a GP to join its team – and has not had a single applicant.

Dr Huw Thomas, one of Irnham Lodge’s four partners, said: “The practice hasn’t needed to recruit for quite some time and, of course, with it being such a lovely area, we thought it would be very straightforward.

“I was amazed when we advertised for a new partner and there was no response at all. When I joined the practice in 1989 there were 80 candidates for the job!

“We’ve got three people over 50, the Harley House practice just down the road has got four people quite close to retirement.

“It’s a problem we need to address really quickly.

“In the short and medium term we should be able to manage. It’s in three to five years’ time that serious problems could arise.

“I really fear for Minehead if we can’t get long-term replacements.

“The service will have to be provided by somebody else and there’s the danger that the level of care will fall.

“The two problems are the lack of people wanting to come here and existing doctors thinking about retiring before the state retirement age because the job takes a lot out of you as you get older. I rarely get home before 7.30 to 8pm but that’s manageable at the moment.

“There’s no doubt that the work-load has increased dramatically because of the ageing population and because people are being pushed into general practice and primary care by early discharge from hospitals.”

Dr Thomas believes that West Somerset’s distance from the M5 corridor can also be a deterrent to young doctors with families who feel they could be cut off from their old lives, friends and families.

“But the real reason is that there’s been a steady decline in young doctors wanting to a commit to a career in general practice,” he said.

“The difficulties over salaries and hours has pushed more and more people away from the NHS and as a result there is no flow-through to general practice.

“We have noticed the trend and now it’s come to us.

“It’s such a pity because West Somerset is a great place to work. It has good patients – people who want to help themselves and are respectful to doctors.

“ For me there’s no better job or a better area to work in. I can’t imagine doing anything else.

“General practice is a job where you build relationships with patients over the years – I’ve been here 25 years and I’ve seen three generations of families.

“That makes the service more efficient because you know the history of all your patients.

“It’s a great job and Minehead is the perfect place to do it. Since I’ve been here I’ve played rugby, learned to sail - I was commodore of Minehead Sailing Club – mountain-biked and walked on the hills and worked in a respected teaching practice. What more can you want?”

Dr Thomas said the practice’s problems started with the retirement of partner Dr Paul Slade which has made it impossible to provide all the usual 40 half-day sessions a week without at least one replacement.

“In the past we have recruited largely on word-of-mouth and introductions but this source has dried up completely.

“When a practice is one doctor down it’s still safe, but when you’re two down and can’t get locum doctors these are very much warning signs

“The only answer is an active change in policy to encourage more people to go into general practice.

“It needs a three-way understanding between patients, GPs and the NHS so that the demands are appropriate.

“In the meantime, we are actively looking for doctors but we can’t spend three grand on advertising time and time again. I honestly don’t quite know what will happen.”