Dr Hilary Jones wants to be seen as a writer ‘rather than a pandemic pin-up’ as he releases debut novel

Dr Hilary Jones has turned his hand to fiction writing (Picture: Getty)

TV GP Dr Hilary Jones, 68, on being a pandemic pin-up, writing a good romance and why he respects Piers Morgan.

Frontline is your first crack at writing a fiction novel. How did you find it?

I loved it. I’ve always liked the idea of writing a novel. The title Frontline is contemporary — everyone is talking about frontline workers and the sacrifices they’ve made. But I didn’t want to dwell on this pandemic because everyone is fed up, so what I’ve done is taken Frontline as an allegory for the First World War and the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918.

Did you know the history or did it require some swotting up?

My grandfather fought in the Somme and he was wounded three times, once quite badly with a bullet through the neck, and you speculate, don’t you? An inch to the left or right and I wouldn’t be here. I’ve always been interested in what his experience of war would have been like. But I also wondered how the doctors and nurses coped with all those injured men before antibiotics were available.

There’s a central romance story through the novel — didn’t have you pegged as an old romantic!

The romance scenes are always the hardest to write in novels. I was very pleased to hear that my 95-year-old mother thought the most romantic scene in the book was something that every teenager should read. She thought that was how romance should occur, in a wooing kind of way, rather than what some young people expect today.

Dr Hilary was a reliable source of knowledge during the pandemic, appearing on Good Morning Britain and Lorraine (Picture: Rex)

You were considered a bit of a pandemic heartthrob. Will you be sending pulses racing once more?

I think those days have passed! I hope that people will enjoy the book and perhaps look forward to the next one and see me as a writer now, rather than a pandemic pin-up!

You’ve been on Good Morning Britain for the past 18 months keeping us informed about the pandemic. It must have never been so important to make sure you were correct…

I made sure I was up-to-date with all the data and scientific information. It was really important to be at the cutting edge and give the right advice. Of course, I was never going to be able to please everybody.

There were a lot of people who were hesitant about the vaccine and even people who denied the virus existed. It was peculiar to have to control one’s sentiments about how people could be so foolish. How could people not understand the science when it was so plain to see at a time when people were frittering their lives away by escapist behaviours that were not healthy?

Must be quite difficult when you encounter those views…

It’s counterproductive to be rude and too aggressive. I think when professional people do that, they lose so much credibility. Persuasion and education are far more potent than anger and judgment. It’s just as it is in the surgery when I see patients, I tell them what the facts are and then I say, ‘You decide for yourself but this is what I would do for me, my children and my mum.’

Dr Hilary is a big fan of his former GMB co-star (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Rex)

Piers Morgan has moved on from Good Morning Britain. You two seemed to have a good relationship…

I admire him as a journalist tremendously as he doesn’t make do with the first answer he gets. If he’s not satisfied with the first answer he gets, he’ll challenge them on it. Not many journalists can do that. He won’t be happy with a flippant first answer. That makes for very interesting viewing. I also like the fact he’s very well-researched and prepared to cause a bit of a stir. And off-air he’s a charming guy who’s very generous, very affable — and you can’t say that about everybody.

You gave reality TV a go on Dancing On Ice. I notice you haven’t tried reality since!

I was terrible at skating. Fair enough, I started from scratch, but I wasn’t much better after six weeks. I thoroughly enjoyed it because it was a steep learning curve and I did learn how to do a basic routine. I won’t be rushing back, though. I loved it but I’m not a natural skater. I think it taught me to stay in my comfort zone.

What do you make of the government’s three per cent pay rise for NHS staff?

I think they deserve more. Doctors and nurses don’t push for money as that’s not what they do the job for — but this offer is an insult. I know how it feels to wear PPE for 12 hours a day. We take the NHS for granted when things are good for us and we only really appreciate them when we need them. A three per cent pay rise is not nearly enough for what they do on a daily basis. When you think about three per cent when you’re already fairly poorly paid as a nurse and a junior doctor, then it’s not surprising that some of these people have had enough and are leaving or retiring early. We underestimate their value at our peril.

Dr Hilary’s debut novel, Frontline, is available now

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