South Scotland politician Emma Harper used to work in the USA and has been messaging her contacts out there.
She said: “I am looking into a number of ways to support the recruitment of GPs and other medical professionals to meet the needs of the region – including making contact with doctors I worked with in California during my time as a nurse and asking them to help spread the word that the south west is a beautiful place to live and work – and is in need of GPs!”
Ms Harper attended a meeting of councillors and parliamentarians earlier this month to discuss how best to support GP recruitment in the region.
The meeting was also attended by MP Richard Arkless and MSP Finlay Carson.
She said: “The NHS is working hard to fill vacancies – and myself and other parliamentarians want to support them to do that.
“GPs are specialists with a set of skills that are necessary to treat all ages and demographics and they are vital to our communities.”