"GP practices on the Isle of Wight are snowed under. They are getting hundreds and hundreds of phone calls every day and the pressure is huge," Peter Rudd, business manager for One Wight Health, has told the Isle of Wight County Press.
Now, a prescription is being written that could provide long-term treatment for the training and recruitment of GPs.
Plans for a proposed University of Portsmouth Medical School are moving forward, with an aim to launch a four-year postgraduate course, starting September 2024.
The school's trainee doctors would be sent to the Island for 20-week placements in their third year - possibly as early as September 2026.
Five local doctors' surgeries have already agreed in principal to host the students, while the support of more is being sought.
Championing the project, Dr Donna Glyde, a Portsmouth-based GP, said: "For this to be a success, we need GPs' surgeries to express an interest.
"We need them to be willing help train them, so we can show the General Medical Council (GMC) we've got capacity in the region to have a medical school.
"GPs are pivotal."
Greater uptake increases the chance of funding, of GMC support and of GPs staying on the Island when they graduate, she said.
"GPs' work is changing," explained Patrick Legg, practice manager at Ryde's Tower House surgery, who is backing the University of Portsmouth Medical School project.
"When patients talk to a receptionist, they are signposted to the most appropriate clinician.
"That might not always be a GP."
It can be confusing - especially for patients expecting to see a doctor within 24 hours - but Patrick insisted "a GP sometimes isn't the best option.
"If you've have an ongoing problem for many months, that maybe doesn't make it urgent on that day.
"We can manage that differently and see them at a future appointment," he said.
Where General Practitioners are vital is in making the system run smoothly, managing a growing network of specialists, including physios, pharmacists, paramedics and skilled practitioners, said Patrick.
"We need to be able to deliver more appointments for our patients."
"We are able to recruit other healthcare professionals but they need a GP to advise them when they are seeing patients.
"Having a medical school in Portsmouth is going to help us retain and recruit GPs.
"It's absolutely key for us to meet our demand," he said.
Dr Michele Legg, senior partner at Tower House Surgery and Clinical Director for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System also supports the plan, saying it would mean better access to quality care for patients.
Of course, neither the Island nor the NHS is unique in experiencing recruitment problems and the proposed medical school was inspired by a dearth of GPs in Portsmouth — graduates are more likely to stay where they trained.
Former practice manager, Peter Rudd, said One Wight Health - a federation of GPs surgeries - sees that first hand.
"You can do as many expensive adverts in the specialist press as you like - you get get zero response.
"Practices recruit through personal contact - often through someone having trained at a practice.
"If you take a trainee that knows you and who trained and lived on the Isle of Wight, they are much more likely to stay."
Patrick said: "Having a longer placement means students will get to know the Island a bit better.
"They won't just be coming over for a few weeks.
"They'll be living here. They'll buy in."
Peter Rudd said after Covid-19, patients want issues dealt with more quickly, because they are fearful.
"Telephone appointments have created more demand and often patients make a second call because they don't have the same level of confidence as they do face-to-face."
So, who are these new trainee doctors — could it be you?
"Perhaps you live locally, didn't quite get the A-Level grades you needed for medical school the first time, but you did really well on a science degree.
"There may also be Isle of Wight paramedics or advance practitioners, who deep down have a desire to go to medical school.
"They are the sort of people who could apply," said Dr Glyde.
She added: "General Practice is unique because you look after people from the cradle to the grave.
"There's not much that I wouldn't have heard of.
"GPs are so well placed to train, because we see and look after everyone."
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