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MELODIC medics are on their way to bagging the Christmas number-one spot, out-selling the latest manufactured pop offering from the X Factor in early chart reports yesterday.
The Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir are setting the pace with their mash-up of Simon & Garfunkel’s classic Bridge Over Troubled Water and Coldplay’s Fix You, celebrating the under-threat, overworked health service during its busiest season.
The song — Bridge Over You — had sold around 5,000 copies more than rivals X Factor winner Louisa Johnson’s Forever Young and Canadian crooner Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself.
The choir’s music video shows doctors, nurses and therapists at south-east London’s University Hospital Lewisham caring for sick children, elderly people and those undergoing major operations.
NHS communications manager Joe Blunden said: “This film showcases the amazing work which NHS staff do every day, which is why we decided to launch this campaign.
“When we filmed it, the support from patients — which you can see in the video — was incredibly moving.”
The video is expected to give sales a huge boost with proceeds to be split between charities, including Carers UK and mental health organisation Mind.
Sales reports from the Official Charts indicated a win for the choir in this week’s rankings to be revealed on Friday.
But Bieber — whose single has been number one for three weeks — could pip the NHS singers to the post with online streaming. One download is the equivalent to 100 stream plays.
A Facebook support page for the choir has attracted support of more than 182,000 social media users, with some pledging to download more than once.
Junior doctor Harriet Nerva started the Facebook page amid serious concerns over Tory Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s plans to impose a new contract on junior doctors from next August that would require them to work more for less pay.
The page reads: “The NHS faces a cruel winter ahead. Budget cuts, low staff morale, junior doctors balloting for industrial action, and hospitals up and down the country being classed as ‘inadequate’.
“We are closer than ever to that cliff edge, but we WILL NOT let the NHS fall. This song is a celebration of the NHS.”
