IN far off Papua New Guinea, Weobley doctors Oliver and Rachel Penney were headhunted from the depths of the steamy jungle.

For hundreds of thankful patients in rather more temperate Herefordshire, the popular husband and wife team arrived back in one piece, having been summoned home to take on a vacancy at the busy Weobley and Staunton-on-Wye practice.

After nearly 30 years ministering to the needs of 6,000 patients, and with 60th birthday milestones looming, they will be retiring later this summer.

For two months they will be working at a hospital in Uganda, though there’s no doubt that they will be coming back home to their 400-year-old farmhouse at Kinnersley.

“We always wanted to work somewhere where we could be part of a community,” said Rachel.

“Herefordshire is home to us and to our family. We have no intention of moving away.”

They took over in 1990, when Drs John and Hilary Davies retired, working with Drs Brian and Helen Beach and Dr Mike Bracebridge.

“Brian liked to say we were headhunted in Papua New Guinea,” said Oliver. The couple responded to his call and a two-year post in a remote 100-bed hospital came to a close.

Photograph albums and scrapbooks outline the work the two young doctors grappled with in distant Oceania. “We went off with a rucksack or two, we knew it would be exciting,” said Oliver. One picture shows two male patients in their best outfits – naked apart from carefully crafted gourds to cover their modesty.

Their Pacific adventure followed after a year working in Hereford and their daughter Ellie, first of the Penneys’ four children, was born there.

“We were dealing with lots of TB and malaria, pig bites and spear wounds. Life back in Herefordshire might be tame. But I always wanted to work in the Welsh Marches,” said Oliver, whose father, Dr St John Penney, was GP in Bishops Castle.

His brother, Dr Adrian Penney, continues to run the practice.

“We have never been bored. We’ve been challenged and stretched, but never bored. It’s been an utter delight,” he said.

Rachel said: “It can be hard when people you know well become ill, but it is also a privilege sharing difficult times with them and their families.”

Part of the award-winning surgery’s success is down to the team and a strong policy of bringing in trainees. “This is a fundamental part of the practice and we’ve always had good supportive colleagues. Three of our current doctors first came as trainees,” said Oliver.

Steering clear of politics, they admit that young medics face anxieties about litigation. They also fear that teaching hospitals can fail to encourage general practice – yet GPs now handle a significant amount of hospital work.

“Pressures on doctors have increased,” said Oliver. “People are consulting the doctor twice as much and they’re living twice as long – and that’s great.”

Challenges faced by the NHS are much in the news. “But we strongly believe that general practice will continue as an essential part of healthcare in this country and are delighted to be leaving the practice in very good hands,” said Oliver.

As the Penneys’ caseload has never been mundane, neither is their domestic life. During last winter’s snow, Oliver and his son David, a medical student, built an igloo and then slept overnight in it.

The family also has a penchant for randomly-chosen flags, regularly fluttering in their garden. The idea came from the young Penney brood’s fondness for collecting flags on family holidays in France.

“It’s just for fun,” said Oliver. “It’s definitely not politically motivated.”