Satire, plus a little extra
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Amusing, angry, provocative and with a clear message about where the NHS is headed.
I could not agree less with the barely literate review suggesting this book would induce (ahem) 'bordem'.
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Nowhere to hide
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I have to disagree with Ms McKee, who curiously seems to have spiked Dr Hammond's other book, despite it being out of print for two years. One reason I suspect Hammond attracts the odd bit of vitriol is that he is brave (or foolhardy) enough to write under his own name. Dr Max Pemberton (Trust Me, I'm a Junior Doctor), Dr Michael Foxton (Bedside Stories: Confessions of a Junior Doctor) and Dr Nick Edwards (In Stitches: Highs and Lows of an A&E Doctor)are all non existent, according to the GMC register. Hammond is registered (325087) and undoubtedly offends those with a cosy view of doctors. He's a bit of a self-publicist who disguises his narcissism as self deprecation but he is undoubtedly funny, which for me is all that matters. A comedian trapped in a doctor's body.
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Bordem in the extreme
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This is a terrible read, boring and unfunny, maybe of interest if your on your death bed and you want to go a bit quicker... sad sad excuse for a funny book.
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Ben Elton, with a stethoscope, on speed
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hilarious book. For those of you interested in the humour embedded in working in the NHS, then read this book and in stitches;the highs and lows of life as an A&E doctor. Both are clasics which combine humour, with politics.
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Dr Ten Thumbs rides again
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Phil Hammond is a carrot-topped, motor-mouthed, whislteblowing medic; star of stand-up, small screen and author of the `Medicine Balls' column for Private Eye. This book is effectively those columns, extended with material from his successful Edinburgh Fringe show and interspersed with spoof GP consultations. It is, he says `a semi-autobiographical, medico-politico, self-help comedy with poems'. So you can see, he isn't quite sure where the book fits but, as you would expect, it's sharp and very funny.
The autobiographical bits include the problems of being a `ten-thumbed' doctor hopeless at the dextrous bits of his trade, and his drug addiction - to Australian Shiraz. Edited, the medico-politico bits could stand as a Sunday broadsheet rant against what New Labour has done to the NHS, or, edited another way, a health policy document for Gordon Brown. The GP consultations suggest that Dr Hammond has a nice ear for dialogue and might one day write a good play. The self-help is succinct and spot on: `Other Emergencies: Sudden loss of anything - sight, movement, feeling, breath, blood, condom, consciousness, the will to live - requires urgent medical assistance. This does not apply to your cat or wallet.' Give this book or Christmas to anyone not going into hospital, or Alan Johnson.
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