00:00Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight, live on KMTV.
00:27I'm Bartholomew Hall, here are your top stories on Monday 5th May.
00:32They burn out and leave.
00:34Figures show which parts of Kent are now most in need of new GPs.
00:39A new dawn, meetings begin to choose a new KCC leader following Reform's historic win.
00:46And turning back time, VE Day celebrations kick off in Tunbridge ahead of the 80th anniversary week.
00:52But first tonight, the number of GPs being recruited in Kent and Medway is not enough to help patients access their appointments quicker.
01:01That's according to a leading Kent GP as new figures have revealed the best and worst areas in our district for the number of patients seen by each practice.
01:10Well joining me earlier to take a closer look at the numbers was Ronnie Glastor.
01:13Well here in Kent, surgeries can have anywhere from more than 1,000 to 40,000 patients currently registered with them.
01:22At Matrix Medical Practice in Gilliam, they have 16,393 patients and just one GP.
01:30Putting it at 176th dead last in our ranking.
01:34Funny enough though, the number one spot is only a 10 minute drive away from them.
01:39It's at Borstel Village Surgery in Strood, which has around a quarter of the number of patients.
01:45Just over 4,000, but seven GPs looking over them.
01:49Meaning each doctor has just more than 600 patients each, rather than thousands to tend to on their own.
01:56So not many GPs for what is thousands of patients.
02:00How do we end up in a situation like this?
02:02Well it's not down to just one factor unfortunately.
02:05It's more of a collection of different things, such as poor recruitment, infrastructure, and high demands.
02:12The Department of Health and Social Care did confirm in February of this year that there have been 34 GPs that have started in Medway since last August.
02:22However, our KMTV health expert and local GP who oversees seven surgeries in Medway and Swale, Dr. Julian Spinks, he chalks the numbers up to how difficult it can be to keep newly recruited GPs on.
02:36The numbers are relatively small compared with the demand we have across Kent.
02:40And we continue to have parts of Kent where the numbers of patients per GP is extremely high, amongst the highest in the country.
02:48The other thing is that we need to be retaining GPs.
02:51One of the problems is that more people have retired early or left because the workload has been excessive, or moved to other parts of the country.
02:58And all of that means that we have to work extra hard in Kent to make sure that we've got enough GPs to meet the demand.
03:03The last 20 years in Kent, the problem we've had is a vicious cycle in the sense that GPs come in, they start a job, and then realise they're working 50% harder than colleagues in other parts of the country.
03:15New footage shows the moment a Spitfire plane crash-landed in a field near Hive.
03:21It's understood two people were on board the World War II aircraft.
03:24Both were uninjured.
03:25And while an investigation has been launched to understand why it happened, Etalee Reynolds has the story.
03:33This is the shocking moment a Spitfire plane crash-landed in a field in West Hive at around 7pm on the 3rd of May.
03:47Those nearby a caravan park describe hearing a low, loud misfiring sound.
03:54Then it went quiet.
03:56Following this, it became apparent to the eyewitnesses that the Spitfire had gone down.
04:02People rushed to the scene and emergency services attended.
04:06The plane belonged to company Fly-A-Spitfire, who said the pilot advised a precautionary landing was made and have no further information at this time.
04:18Thankfully, the pilot and passenger were uninjured.
04:22The plane remained covered up in the field overnight and a recovery operation took place yesterday.
04:27Etalee Reynolds reporting for us there.
04:31Now, a new dawn is upon Kent politics this week, as Reform UK will take charge of Kent County Council for the first time.
04:37It comes after the party took 57 seats in last week's local election and overall control of the council.
04:44Well, among many other responsibilities, the new councillors will have to first select their new leader.
04:49Our local democracy reporter, Gabriel Morris, takes us through an historic results night.
04:53Touching down in Kent, the county long known as a Tory stronghold.
05:01Nigel Farage landing for a celebration in Panic Wood as voters delivered a seismic swing to his party in the local elections.
05:10Nigel, how does it feel to be back in Kent?
05:12Very good. What a result here. Stunning.
05:15Reform UK now has 57 councillors on KCC, a 16-seat majority.
05:22Their surge has shaken the political landscape, nearly wiping out the Tories.
05:27They barely exist anymore and I think their 200-year history is coming to an end.
05:32Do you expect it to be so good?
05:33No.
05:35Yet the party has never controlled a local authority, so what should voters expect?
05:40Well, I would suggest if you think you can work from home under us, you might find yourself having quite a short, sharp conversation.
05:48And if you're working in DEI or climate change for the county, then perhaps alternative employment is where you should be looking.
05:54We want to slim down the size of local government to get it back to the basics and to make sure that council taxpayers start to get better value for money.
06:04So job cuts are on the way here?
06:05Well, there may well be job cuts in areas like DEI.
06:09How many do you think?
06:09In areas... Hey, we haven't looked at the books yet, I can't tell you.
06:14In this leafy Sevenoaks village, Otford stood as one of the safest Tory seats.
06:20Roger Goff, a former KCC leader, lost his post fair to reform.
06:26The scale, I think, of what's happening, not just across this county, but also across the country, does rather put it all into perspective.
06:32So, personally, I'm disappointed.
06:35I would like to have gone on representing that division, but that was not to be.
06:41And I think there's clearly something, as I say, much, much bigger than any of us going on.
06:45The Conservatives holding just five seats.
06:48Labour has two.
06:50The Lib Dems with 12 seats will now form the official opposition on the council.
06:55We will do our utmost to hold reform to account, because what we can see from their campaign literature is that they have no idea about how to run a county council.
07:05They've campaigned on national issues, and now they've got to do the hard yards for the people of Kent.
07:10Thank you very much indeed.
07:11Reform UK's win is unprecedented, and it has lit fireworks across the political scene.
07:17But as the celebrations settle in Kent, the party must now face KCC's tight budgets and the looming question of devolution.
07:28Gabriel Morris in Paddock Wood.
07:30Well, finally this evening, as Kent joins the rest of the country in celebrating the 80th anniversary of VE Day,
07:41Tunbridge Castle opened its doors over the weekend to invite people from across the town to join in a day of looking back through history,
07:48from singing and dancing to remembering those who gave their lives.
07:52Our reporter Henry Luck explored some of the things going on.
07:5580 years ago saw one of the most violent and historically important wars come to an end when Germany surrendered to Allied forces.
08:06May is hosting VE Day, where Kent and the rest of the country celebrate our servicemen winning victory in Europe,
08:14and Tunbridge Castle is definitely getting involved.
08:17You might not be able to see it because of the scaffolding, but Tunbridge Castle played an important part in World War II by serving as an outlet post where allies would spot for enemy planes.
08:31The deputy lieutenant and members of the Royal British Legion were also in attendance and reflected back on their connections to World War II.
08:41We had members of the family fighting in the armed forces. My father-in-law was in Bomber Command, flew his last mission on D-Day itself.
08:53And so it's really important for us to remember these family connections.
08:59D-Day to me is a remembrance of my relatives who served and who unfortunately passed away.
09:06But I think about my grandfather who served in Burma and what his thoughts were when he found out that there was victory in Europe,
09:14but he was still fighting in the Far East and what his thoughts were and what he came back to afterwards.
09:20Not only do we have to remember VE Day, we remember VEJ Day as well.
09:24But the celebrations also recognised the firefighters of the time.
09:27Linda Lewis of the National Fire Service says these forces are often overlooked in the face of history.
09:36It's important because they shouldn't be forgotten.
09:40And people these days don't know anything about the fire service.
09:46They don't know anything about the war.
09:48They don't know what people at home did.
09:53A lot of the time they will know what happens in other countries.
09:58But you don't find out what happened for ladies and gentlemen at home.
10:06Generations both young and old reflected on this trip to the past.
10:10Everybody's joining in.
10:13Yeah, it's lovely. It's a really nice community event.
10:14I've enjoyed the afternoon. I feel it's well attended.
10:19I think it's something that's got to be remembered.
10:21And it's great to see so many generations here.
10:24It's very important that we'll come together and remember this day and appreciate it.
10:30VE Day will be officially taking place on the 8th of May.
10:35Henry Luck for KMTV in Tombridge.
10:39And I'm sure there'll be plenty more events taking place across the rest of the week.
10:43Well, let's see what the weather will be like for them.
10:50Well, starting with tonight, a mixture of cloudy and clear skies with highs of 9 degrees in Margate,
10:55lows of 6 in Tombridge Wells.
10:57Looking towards tomorrow morning, mostly 10 and 11 degrees, staying cloudy across the county.
11:04And as we go into tomorrow afternoon, temperatures climbing ever so slightly,
11:07still staying in the low to mid-teens and some clear skies depending on where you are.
11:12And, yeah, let's look towards the rest of the week then.
11:15VE Day celebrations on Thursday taking place.
11:18Clear skies, 15 degrees.
11:26And that is it from us this evening on KMTV.
11:29We've got plenty more content available for you to watch over on our website, kmtv.co.uk.
11:35We'll be back tomorrow morning with the Kent Morning Show from 7 o'clock.
11:38See you then.
11:38KMTV.
11:46KMTV, the Kent Morning Show.
11:48KMTV.
11:53KMTV.
