end game

Published: 14/08/2003, Volume II3, No. 5868 Page

The UK, of course, needs all the GPs it can get and increasingly it is looking overseas to find them. Spain has been the most popular hunting ground, but now Italy is playing its part in helping the NHS meet its recruitment targets.

The latest arrival is Dr Riccardo Benci, who has relocated from Rome to Sedgefield, County Durham. HSJ welcomes Dr Benci to the NHS, but feels his patients should be warned of the potential for some surreal conversations.

The Italian import has a talent for singing and says his ambition was to appear in Jesus Christ Superstar. 'That was a true cult for me, ' reveals Dr Benci.

He has already played St Peter and Pontius Pilate in productions of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, but it is the role of Judas he most covets. Dr Benci was therefore thrilled when, while working in Rome, he became doctor to Carl Anderson, the actor who played Jesus's betrayer in both the original stage and film versions of the musical. The meeting 'fulfilled one of my greatest dreams, ' says Dr Benci.