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Your Life In My Hands
"I am a junior doctor. It is 4 a.m. I have run arrest calls, treated life-threatening bleeding, held the hand of a young woman dying of cancer, scuttled down miles of dim corridors wanting to sob with sheer exhaustion, forgotten to eat,
forgotten to drink, drawn on every fibre of strength that I possess to keep my patients safe from harm."
*
How does it feel to be spat out of medical school into a world of pain, loss and trauma that you feel wholly ill-equipped to handle? To be a medical novice who makes decisions which – if you get them wrong – might forever alter, or end, a person’s life? To toughen up the hard way, through repeated exposure
to life-and-death situations, until you are finally a match for them?
In this heartfelt, deeply personal account of life as a junior doctor in today’s health service, former television journalist turned doctor, Rachel Clarke, captures the extraordinary realities of ordinary life on the NHS front line. From the historic junior doctor strikes of 2016 to the ‘humanitarian crisis’ declared by the Red Cross, the overstretched health service is on the precipice, calling for junior doctors to draw on extraordinary reserves of what compelled them into medicine in the first place – and the value the NHS can least afford to lose – kindness.
This extraordinary memoir offers a glimpse into a life spent between the operating room and the bedside, the mortuary and the doctors’ mess, telling powerful truths about today’s NHS frontline, and capturing with tenderness and humanity the highs and lows of a new doctor’s first steps onto the wards in the context of a health service at breaking point – and what it means to be entrusted with carrying another’s life in your hands.
forgotten to drink, drawn on every fibre of strength that I possess to keep my patients safe from harm."
*
How does it feel to be spat out of medical school into a world of pain, loss and trauma that you feel wholly ill-equipped to handle? To be a medical novice who makes decisions which – if you get them wrong – might forever alter, or end, a person’s life? To toughen up the hard way, through repeated exposure
to life-and-death situations, until you are finally a match for them?
In this heartfelt, deeply personal account of life as a junior doctor in today’s health service, former television journalist turned doctor, Rachel Clarke, captures the extraordinary realities of ordinary life on the NHS front line. From the historic junior doctor strikes of 2016 to the ‘humanitarian crisis’ declared by the Red Cross, the overstretched health service is on the precipice, calling for junior doctors to draw on extraordinary reserves of what compelled them into medicine in the first place – and the value the NHS can least afford to lose – kindness.
This extraordinary memoir offers a glimpse into a life spent between the operating room and the bedside, the mortuary and the doctors’ mess, telling powerful truths about today’s NHS frontline, and capturing with tenderness and humanity the highs and lows of a new doctor’s first steps onto the wards in the context of a health service at breaking point – and what it means to be entrusted with carrying another’s life in your hands.
281 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 370 reviews
July 31, 2022
Politics: poly - many, ticks - nasty blood-sucking little insects. The title and blurb promise the story of a new doctor's experience of being responsible for emergency patients, making life and death decisions. But after a few interesting chapters to build up identification and empathy with this young doctor, she gets going with her polemical memoir.
The blurb is a cynical come-on by a left-wing activist to gain sympathy for her political position and to no doubt gain votes for the Labour party which is going to make everything perfect as opposed to the evil Conservatives, and, in tweets, linking it to Brexit which has nothing to do with it at all!
The author read politics, philosophy and economics and was a current affairs journalist before retraining as a doctor at 29. She has tweeted recently about hospices having to close and so her next book, due out in 2020, Dear Life', exploring end-of-life care, is no doubt going to be more about the politics and funding of end of life care under the NHS than actual details of what that care involves. And no doubt there will be, as in this book, stories of people suffering who wouldn't be if there was only more money available for the people on the front line. I have a particular dislike of the sort of politics which play on emotions rather than offer practical solutions.
The situation of inadequate funding of the NHS has been going on for as many years as I've been politically conscious. The issues are not as simple as give the NHS more money and there will be more doctors, more nurses, more beds. One of the biggest drains on the system is the administration which leaches off money that could be spent on patient care. It is an alternative career track, managerial health care, and those involved in it earn tremendous salaries, bigger than doctors and are forever recruiting more people to run the health facilities. The author does not address how this situation can be solved.
Her party of choice is one which is inclined to increase administrative jobs in every sector in any case and generally thinks that taxing-the-rich (and middle class) is the solution to every problem. No one in any country has yet found a way to get the rich to pay, whether it is a person like Richard Branson and his tax hideout or Google and Amazon. Their workers pay on their small earnings but the company and the owners with their billion-dollar profits, they have accountants specialising in tax avoidance, which is legal, as opposed to tax evasion, which isn't.
I don't have a solution. I don't live in the UK, I could vote there but I don't. I'm not a sympathiser of right-wing policies and obviously I'm not going to vote for a party where anti-Semitism is rife. But the NHS funding issue is a political pawn to be talked about but never addressed with meaningful action. Just every year it costs more and every year the administration personnel budget grows.
The island I live on has recently built a hospital at huge cost (it took ten years and as soon as the electricity was installed, all lights were left on at night no doubt earning the importers of oil that sell it to the electricity company huge amounts of money. No doubt deliberately. I'm sure the administration of the NHS, of each individual health care facility even, has it's own set up that benefit the few in the same way. Politics: poly - many, ticks - nasty blood-sucking little insects. Full quote
I came across this book and thought I'd read it, how come it has disappeared from my shelves? Was it because I mentioned Amazon?
The blurb is a cynical come-on by a left-wing activist to gain sympathy for her political position and to no doubt gain votes for the Labour party which is going to make everything perfect as opposed to the evil Conservatives, and, in tweets, linking it to Brexit which has nothing to do with it at all!
The author read politics, philosophy and economics and was a current affairs journalist before retraining as a doctor at 29. She has tweeted recently about hospices having to close and so her next book, due out in 2020, Dear Life', exploring end-of-life care, is no doubt going to be more about the politics and funding of end of life care under the NHS than actual details of what that care involves. And no doubt there will be, as in this book, stories of people suffering who wouldn't be if there was only more money available for the people on the front line. I have a particular dislike of the sort of politics which play on emotions rather than offer practical solutions.
The situation of inadequate funding of the NHS has been going on for as many years as I've been politically conscious. The issues are not as simple as give the NHS more money and there will be more doctors, more nurses, more beds. One of the biggest drains on the system is the administration which leaches off money that could be spent on patient care. It is an alternative career track, managerial health care, and those involved in it earn tremendous salaries, bigger than doctors and are forever recruiting more people to run the health facilities. The author does not address how this situation can be solved.
Her party of choice is one which is inclined to increase administrative jobs in every sector in any case and generally thinks that taxing-the-rich (and middle class) is the solution to every problem. No one in any country has yet found a way to get the rich to pay, whether it is a person like Richard Branson and his tax hideout or Google and Amazon. Their workers pay on their small earnings but the company and the owners with their billion-dollar profits, they have accountants specialising in tax avoidance, which is legal, as opposed to tax evasion, which isn't.
I don't have a solution. I don't live in the UK, I could vote there but I don't. I'm not a sympathiser of right-wing policies and obviously I'm not going to vote for a party where anti-Semitism is rife. But the NHS funding issue is a political pawn to be talked about but never addressed with meaningful action. Just every year it costs more and every year the administration personnel budget grows.
The island I live on has recently built a hospital at huge cost (it took ten years and as soon as the electricity was installed, all lights were left on at night no doubt earning the importers of oil that sell it to the electricity company huge amounts of money. No doubt deliberately. I'm sure the administration of the NHS, of each individual health care facility even, has it's own set up that benefit the few in the same way. Politics: poly - many, ticks - nasty blood-sucking little insects. Full quote
I came across this book and thought I'd read it, how come it has disappeared from my shelves? Was it because I mentioned Amazon?
February 16, 2018
This struck a cord with me on a personal level as I'm currently an allied health professional working within the NHS on the 'frontline', and I've also recently been on the other side of care as an inpatient myself.
Rachel Clarke writes passionately about the recent doctors strike and the political incorrectness surrounding a floundering NHS. She cares deeply about patient care and the fight to save the NHS, as do all of us who work within it. I've striked myself - and believe me we never did it for the money. We did it because of desperately low morale, and concerns over patient safety. Nobody goes into medicine for the mega bucks, regardless of what Jeremy Hunt wants you to believe. Everything that's written here is told from the heart, and I mirror so many of her valid points. To save our NHS we must all confront these times of austerity and a troubling conservative government who seem content to destroy it from the inside out. Only by standing together and refusing to accept anything less than acceptable for our patients will it survive.
Yes, this is always going to be biased towards the junior doctors plight. It's written by a junior doctor who has personally confronted Hunt over his contradictory statements and incorrect statistics. But do I care? No. Because I will fight for the NHS until my last breath, and it's a joyous thing to read something that agrees with me on so many points. Being able to go into hospital (as I have over the past week, twice) and not worry about a large medical bill that I could never possibly pay, is my right as a British citizen, and is something I am immensely proud of this country for.
God bless the NHS.
Rachel Clarke writes passionately about the recent doctors strike and the political incorrectness surrounding a floundering NHS. She cares deeply about patient care and the fight to save the NHS, as do all of us who work within it. I've striked myself - and believe me we never did it for the money. We did it because of desperately low morale, and concerns over patient safety. Nobody goes into medicine for the mega bucks, regardless of what Jeremy Hunt wants you to believe. Everything that's written here is told from the heart, and I mirror so many of her valid points. To save our NHS we must all confront these times of austerity and a troubling conservative government who seem content to destroy it from the inside out. Only by standing together and refusing to accept anything less than acceptable for our patients will it survive.
Yes, this is always going to be biased towards the junior doctors plight. It's written by a junior doctor who has personally confronted Hunt over his contradictory statements and incorrect statistics. But do I care? No. Because I will fight for the NHS until my last breath, and it's a joyous thing to read something that agrees with me on so many points. Being able to go into hospital (as I have over the past week, twice) and not worry about a large medical bill that I could never possibly pay, is my right as a British citizen, and is something I am immensely proud of this country for.
God bless the NHS.
July 7, 2019
A searingly honest account of life on the frontline of the NHS in modern times. Perhaps I'm biased because I am a nurse (although I did elect to leave the NHS earlier this year for reasons not dissimilar to those documented here) but I thought this was a brilliantly articulate book. The author does not shy away from the cold hard facts of modern medicine, in fact she relishes in telling the readers how it actually is.
Much of the book is dedicated to the junior doctor strike era of late 2016 and early 2017, at this time I was working on an NHS hospital ward (and can say with some confidence that I'm sure this author is writing about the same hospital and Trust).
What Doctor Clarke writes is true. Politicians, hospital bureaucrats, bed managers, the numerous "suits" who patrol our wards and departments seeking out areas to make cuts - they should all read this. Truth is, people are dying because of hospital cuts. Staffing is, and always has been, a critical focus of NHS management. What the author demonstrates here is that without taking care of your staff you cannot expect a fully functioning health service. At times, I became misty eyed reading as I have seen much of what she describes for myself.
It's not all doom and gloom. There are uplifting accounts of patients defying the odds and about the beauty of modern medicine. I particularly liked the authors nod to how the NHS is free at the point of contact. For all it's faults, if you were to break a leg, be diagnosed with cancer or develop an inflamed gall bladder today in Britain, you do not have to worry about a large bill dropping on your door step tomorrow.
Much of the book is dedicated to the junior doctor strike era of late 2016 and early 2017, at this time I was working on an NHS hospital ward (and can say with some confidence that I'm sure this author is writing about the same hospital and Trust).
What Doctor Clarke writes is true. Politicians, hospital bureaucrats, bed managers, the numerous "suits" who patrol our wards and departments seeking out areas to make cuts - they should all read this. Truth is, people are dying because of hospital cuts. Staffing is, and always has been, a critical focus of NHS management. What the author demonstrates here is that without taking care of your staff you cannot expect a fully functioning health service. At times, I became misty eyed reading as I have seen much of what she describes for myself.
It's not all doom and gloom. There are uplifting accounts of patients defying the odds and about the beauty of modern medicine. I particularly liked the authors nod to how the NHS is free at the point of contact. For all it's faults, if you were to break a leg, be diagnosed with cancer or develop an inflamed gall bladder today in Britain, you do not have to worry about a large bill dropping on your door step tomorrow.
February 25, 2018
(2.5) I was expecting a fairly straightforward memoir of a doctor’s education and practice, à la Henry Marsh, but really this is more of a polemic against Jeremy Hunt’s policies for the NHS. The system is already underfunded and doctors, especially trainees, are already overworked and underslept, Clarke argues, yet the government wanted to force juniors to work more weekend hours too. She went to the press and was active in the campaign against the proposed new contracts. Ultimately this is more about politics than medicine, which will limit its appeal outside of Britain. I wanted more in the way of anecdotes from her professional life – she was a TV journalist until retraining as a doctor at age 29, and surely both careers should make for good stories.
Favorite lines:
“The question that led me, heavy-hearted, full of doubt, to the picket lines in 2016 was not ‘How can I protect my Saturday overtime?’ but, ‘How can I continue to conduct myself with compassion and humanity in an NHS that is falling apart?’”
“We do our bit to assist, if we possibly can. And there is always, even when medicine is exhausted, our touch or voice or smile. It can hurt. It can thrill. It can take your breath away. Painful, bittersweet, overwhelming, magnificent medicine. For me, no other job could come close.”
(of the NHS) “For me, there is nothing in Britain that better represents the decency, humanity and generosity of spirit of the country to which I belong. The patient whose status gives me the greatest concern today is the NHS itself, and ultimately its fate rests not in my hands but in yours.”
Favorite lines:
“The question that led me, heavy-hearted, full of doubt, to the picket lines in 2016 was not ‘How can I protect my Saturday overtime?’ but, ‘How can I continue to conduct myself with compassion and humanity in an NHS that is falling apart?’”
“We do our bit to assist, if we possibly can. And there is always, even when medicine is exhausted, our touch or voice or smile. It can hurt. It can thrill. It can take your breath away. Painful, bittersweet, overwhelming, magnificent medicine. For me, no other job could come close.”
(of the NHS) “For me, there is nothing in Britain that better represents the decency, humanity and generosity of spirit of the country to which I belong. The patient whose status gives me the greatest concern today is the NHS itself, and ultimately its fate rests not in my hands but in yours.”
July 26, 2022
There is no question the NHS are doing a formidable job despite how underfunded they are. It was interesting to read how the government hides or try to ignore how dire the situation is, and I learnt a lot. But I found the focus on this a bit too repetitive. What I liked the most were the stories about patients, it really made me feel good.
December 28, 2019
The memoir of a Junior Doctor in the NHS... I've read quite a few of them this year (2019) but in my view, this was one of the better ones. Originally in journalism, the author Rachel decided to retrain and go into medicine. Your Life In My Hands not only talks about that life change, but also the growing NHS struggles and political events including the strikes and fears over funding. Good read!
July 10, 2018
A very well written account of what it's like to be on the frontline in the NHS and it's quite a harrowing story.
Thank goodness for the angels in the NHS who are doing there best to help save lives and ease the suffering of many.
Underpaid, overworked, undervalued by the Jeremy Hunt's of this world and still they stay helping others in this stressful job.
Thank goodness there are people like this who work all hours to help the dying and the sick.
This book made me reach for the tissues at times. Very well written and narrated. Recommended.
Thank goodness for the angels in the NHS who are doing there best to help save lives and ease the suffering of many.
Underpaid, overworked, undervalued by the Jeremy Hunt's of this world and still they stay helping others in this stressful job.
Thank goodness there are people like this who work all hours to help the dying and the sick.
This book made me reach for the tissues at times. Very well written and narrated. Recommended.
June 15, 2020
If you are into politics, Question Time and Parliamentary debates, this book is for you! If you are looking to read a book about the work a Doctor does in the NHS, this isn't the right book.
I was really looking forward to reading this book, but the title is misleading. It is not really about the patients (though there a few brief stories) it is very political and I was really not expecting that.
The book is full of negativity and is the author's way of rambling on about working conditions in the NHS - bed crisis, staffing shortages and I quickly got fed up of Jeremy Hunt this, Jeremy Hunt that.
As a former Student Nurse, I have seen the issues first hand and I understand what the author is saying, but we have heard it all before in the news over the years. We don't need to read it.
The highlight of the book and what really summed it up for me was when the author asks her daughter if she would like to stay up to watch Mummy on the news. The daughters response is "No, Mummy is boring" This made me laugh out loud and totally summed the book up for me!
I was really looking forward to reading this book, but the title is misleading. It is not really about the patients (though there a few brief stories) it is very political and I was really not expecting that.
The book is full of negativity and is the author's way of rambling on about working conditions in the NHS - bed crisis, staffing shortages and I quickly got fed up of Jeremy Hunt this, Jeremy Hunt that.
As a former Student Nurse, I have seen the issues first hand and I understand what the author is saying, but we have heard it all before in the news over the years. We don't need to read it.
The highlight of the book and what really summed it up for me was when the author asks her daughter if she would like to stay up to watch Mummy on the news. The daughters response is "No, Mummy is boring" This made me laugh out loud and totally summed the book up for me!
December 15, 2017
"Cancer, heart attacks, car crashes, brain damage - we know the bolts from the blue are out there, we just never believe it is us they will strike. Perhaps it is only when you or your family are smitten that you fully appreciate - with relief and gratitude - that the NHS is there, ready and willing to scoop up your loved one and put them back together again, without a punitive bill attached."
Rachel Clarke - NHS doctor, former journalist, mother, daughter, wife - has written a powerful polemic here. Part memoir/part call-to-arms, Clarke gives a very personal account of her own choice of medicine as a career, and her belief that the NHS is a British institution worth fighting for. She deftly moves between politics (specifically the Junior Doctor strikes in 2015, and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt's attack on NHS doctors), scenes (sometimes graphic ones) from a hospital, and the toll that budget cuts and understaffing are taking on patient care and staff morale right now in the NHS. As I was reading this book, Lord Kerslake resigned as chairman of King's College Hospital Foundation. He was quoted as saying the health service could not continue 'staggering along' under the current funding levels - which is Clarke's point, entirely.
I saw Clarke speak at the Cambridge Literary Festival in late November, 2017, and she was a passionate and informed speaker. There was no doubt about her idealism and deep belief in the NHS. But this book is deeply disturbing and frightening, and leaves the reader in no doubt of how dire the situation has become. It is, hands down, the most upsetting book I've read this year - and I cried at many points during reading it. The final chapter of the book is titled 'Hope', and Clarke emphasised in her talk how important it is that individuals write their MPs and demand that the NHS's problems be taken seriously. One of the reasons I have wanted to live the rest of my adult life in England, as opposed to the US, is its system of universal care. I hope that many people will read this book - not just those who have need of the NHS right now - and will be motivated to want to save this great institution.
Rachel Clarke - NHS doctor, former journalist, mother, daughter, wife - has written a powerful polemic here. Part memoir/part call-to-arms, Clarke gives a very personal account of her own choice of medicine as a career, and her belief that the NHS is a British institution worth fighting for. She deftly moves between politics (specifically the Junior Doctor strikes in 2015, and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt's attack on NHS doctors), scenes (sometimes graphic ones) from a hospital, and the toll that budget cuts and understaffing are taking on patient care and staff morale right now in the NHS. As I was reading this book, Lord Kerslake resigned as chairman of King's College Hospital Foundation. He was quoted as saying the health service could not continue 'staggering along' under the current funding levels - which is Clarke's point, entirely.
I saw Clarke speak at the Cambridge Literary Festival in late November, 2017, and she was a passionate and informed speaker. There was no doubt about her idealism and deep belief in the NHS. But this book is deeply disturbing and frightening, and leaves the reader in no doubt of how dire the situation has become. It is, hands down, the most upsetting book I've read this year - and I cried at many points during reading it. The final chapter of the book is titled 'Hope', and Clarke emphasised in her talk how important it is that individuals write their MPs and demand that the NHS's problems be taken seriously. One of the reasons I have wanted to live the rest of my adult life in England, as opposed to the US, is its system of universal care. I hope that many people will read this book - not just those who have need of the NHS right now - and will be motivated to want to save this great institution.
May 24, 2022
Книгата "Твоят живот в моите ръце" ни разкрива проблемите на младите английски лекари в структурите на Националната служба по здравеопазване (NHS). Останах искрено изненадан по много начини. Още отначало става ясно, че ресурсите, отделяни от държавата, не стигат, персоналът е на критичния минимум, чакането дори в спешните центрове е дълго и мъчително, липсват свободни легла и понякога се налага да настаняват пациенти на носилки в коридорите.
През 2016 г. английски политици опитват да въведат седемдневна работна седмица в NHS. Не съм сигурен, че разбирам какво означава държавните здравни структури да не работят седем дни седмично, но темата се оказва взривоопасна и се стига до масово недоволство и стачки. Лекарите твърдят, че с наличните ресурси не могат да се справят дори през делничните дни, а политиците ги обвиняват, че са алчни, мързеливи и не мислят за пациентите си. Стига се до медийно очерняне, а потърпевши се оказват, разбира се, болните. В типичен британски стил постоянно се говори за строги икономии (austerity) при осигуряването на здравни грижи. Лекарите демонстрират статистики, че през уикендите има надвишена смъртност в рамките на хиляди годишно. Политиците отричат и преминават в яростна контраатака с нови рестрикции.
Е, сега поне научих защо в Англия се чака много за специализирана медицинска помощ. Но осъзнах и че те не правят компромис с качеството. Въпреки проблемите там никой не предлага да се увеличи приема на студенти по медицина, нито да се разхлабят стандартите при започване на работа. Английските лекари не са като нашите - не се оставят лесно да ги манипулират и отстояват правата си в сблъсък със силните на деня.
Здравеопазването е въпрос на ценности и приоритети.
През 2016 г. английски политици опитват да въведат седемдневна работна седмица в NHS. Не съм сигурен, че разбирам какво означава държавните здравни структури да не работят седем дни седмично, но темата се оказва взривоопасна и се стига до масово недоволство и стачки. Лекарите твърдят, че с наличните ресурси не могат да се справят дори през делничните дни, а политиците ги обвиняват, че са алчни, мързеливи и не мислят за пациентите си. Стига се до медийно очерняне, а потърпевши се оказват, разбира се, болните. В типичен британски стил постоянно се говори за строги икономии (austerity) при осигуряването на здравни грижи. Лекарите демонстрират статистики, че през уикендите има надвишена смъртност в рамките на хиляди годишно. Политиците отричат и преминават в яростна контраатака с нови рестрикции.
Е, сега поне научих защо в Англия се чака много за специализирана медицинска помощ. Но осъзнах и че те не правят компромис с качеството. Въпреки проблемите там никой не предлага да се увеличи приема на студенти по медицина, нито да се разхлабят стандартите при започване на работа. Английските лекари не са като нашите - не се оставят лесно да ги манипулират и отстояват правата си в сблъсък със силните на деня.
Здравеопазването е въпрос на ценности и приоритети.
June 26, 2017
Many excellent medical memoirs have made their way onto bookshelves of late (Do No Harm, Being Mortal) and this is an addition to that worthy list. This is frontline medicine rather than grumpy surgeons or hospice philosophy. This is the face of the NHS that some of us have unfortunately witnessed.
On a day when the government hands over £1bn to the Northern Irish for help pushing bills through the House of Commons, spare a thought for doctors and nurses who save lives on minimal rest with no appreciation or managerial support.
On a day when the government hands over £1bn to the Northern Irish for help pushing bills through the House of Commons, spare a thought for doctors and nurses who save lives on minimal rest with no appreciation or managerial support.
March 17, 2022
Read: March 2022
Rating: 3/5 stars
The rating I have given this book is somewhat meaningless because none of the designations really fit. I enjoy reading books about medical professionals, especially those working within the NHS, and there were anecdotes here and there in Your Life in My Hands that were light-hearted because they showed the humanity in the system; the couple who were both junior doctors and trying for their first baby between non-stop shifts, the consultant who took the time to answer the phone even though it was not his job, the doctors who go above and beyond despite the cutbacks and negative attacks by the government and in the media.
However, the overwhelming message of this book is unrelentingly negative. Almost every story Clarke tells in these chapters is negative. That's why it is so hard to rate - I didn't enjoy reading it but I didn't dislike reading it either. It just left me depressed about the state of the NHS and the government that seem to enjoy cutting it and shrinking it back and privatising it against the best interests of both the public they claim to serve and the best and brightest doctors, consultants and nurses who are trying their hardest to keep it afloat.
Rating: 3/5 stars
The rating I have given this book is somewhat meaningless because none of the designations really fit. I enjoy reading books about medical professionals, especially those working within the NHS, and there were anecdotes here and there in Your Life in My Hands that were light-hearted because they showed the humanity in the system; the couple who were both junior doctors and trying for their first baby between non-stop shifts, the consultant who took the time to answer the phone even though it was not his job, the doctors who go above and beyond despite the cutbacks and negative attacks by the government and in the media.
However, the overwhelming message of this book is unrelentingly negative. Almost every story Clarke tells in these chapters is negative. That's why it is so hard to rate - I didn't enjoy reading it but I didn't dislike reading it either. It just left me depressed about the state of the NHS and the government that seem to enjoy cutting it and shrinking it back and privatising it against the best interests of both the public they claim to serve and the best and brightest doctors, consultants and nurses who are trying their hardest to keep it afloat.
Read
September 23, 2024The empathy shown by Dr Rachel Clarke to people in some of the most difficult times of their lives is just wonderful, and her love of the UK's National Health Service (NHS) is palpable in this book.
As a UK citizen, I have had lots of interaction with it in my life, both personally and through family and friends. It is the thing I am most proud of about the UK, and it has been under threat for some time - lots blame our previous Government for this. Rachel speaks the truth about what has gone wrong, in no uncertain terms, and counters the Government spin about our NHS staff.
There are also some incredible stories of hope and inspiration throughout, which show why we are so lucky to have our NHS, and why we need to fight for it.
As a UK citizen, I have had lots of interaction with it in my life, both personally and through family and friends. It is the thing I am most proud of about the UK, and it has been under threat for some time - lots blame our previous Government for this. Rachel speaks the truth about what has gone wrong, in no uncertain terms, and counters the Government spin about our NHS staff.
There are also some incredible stories of hope and inspiration throughout, which show why we are so lucky to have our NHS, and why we need to fight for it.
July 15, 2017
Telling it as it is. A brave decision and presented with the clarity of a well researched journalist with the dedication & soul of a doctor living on top of this unexploded bomb. Rings so many bells for me...I worked in NHS admin for 15 years as the current crisis built, flagging concerns at every stage. What is it with politicians that they don't want to consider, appreciate, believe views from the coalface?
Everybody should read this..and weep..
Everybody should read this..and weep..
March 6, 2018
At the age of 29 Rachel Clarke decided on a change of career, a starting out in journalism in television news she decided the pull of a career in medicine was too great. After all, both her father and grandfather both had careers in medicine. So now it time for Rachel to follow in their footsteps. In Your Life in My Hands Rachel Clarke talks passionately about life as a junior doctor in the NHS.
Many always dream of being a nurse or a doctor specialising in specific areas of medicine, but no-one prepares you for the real life on the front line that is looking after patients and dealing with the most traumatic moments that only a doctor can experience. Every patient is different, not every patient is understanding some can be rather rude. We ask a lot of doctors and what they have to except. Rachel’s accounts in her book are very eloquent and her writing style means that she comes across as though she there with you talking directly you. Just like a doctor in fact.
Reading Rachel Clarke’s Your Life in My Hands gives you a real sense of life working in the NHS.
Rachel worked in the NHS for eight years in total and so she has first-hand accounts of how the NHS was being destroyed brick by brick. Our nurses and doctors work incredibly long hours and for Rachel Clarke it was not unusual for her to work 70 hour weeks and the incredible mountain of paperwork that also had to be done.
What does come across in Your Life in My Hands is her love of the profession but also a warning that our loved NHS is stretched to breaking point and that if this carries on our incredible nurses and doctors will not be able to continue the level of professionalism that we have come to expect. Jeremy Hunt’s 2015 intervention on imposing strict new working conditions on the profession and the NHS as a whole very nearly broke the back of the NHS that very winter. And it became Rachel’s role thanks to her previous career in TV news that she became the face of TV interviews during NHS Junior doctors strikes that followed.
I hope sincerely that the Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt has read Rachel Clarke’s passionate memoir but I doubt it. I am passionate about our NHS and the heroes that work in the NHS. I cannot praise Your Life in My Hands high enough. It you care about the future of the NHS then this is a book you must read. To Rachel Clarke I say thank you for writing this important book that in years to come may yet be a book every junior doctor will want to read. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
320 Pages.
Many always dream of being a nurse or a doctor specialising in specific areas of medicine, but no-one prepares you for the real life on the front line that is looking after patients and dealing with the most traumatic moments that only a doctor can experience. Every patient is different, not every patient is understanding some can be rather rude. We ask a lot of doctors and what they have to except. Rachel’s accounts in her book are very eloquent and her writing style means that she comes across as though she there with you talking directly you. Just like a doctor in fact.
Reading Rachel Clarke’s Your Life in My Hands gives you a real sense of life working in the NHS.
Rachel worked in the NHS for eight years in total and so she has first-hand accounts of how the NHS was being destroyed brick by brick. Our nurses and doctors work incredibly long hours and for Rachel Clarke it was not unusual for her to work 70 hour weeks and the incredible mountain of paperwork that also had to be done.
What does come across in Your Life in My Hands is her love of the profession but also a warning that our loved NHS is stretched to breaking point and that if this carries on our incredible nurses and doctors will not be able to continue the level of professionalism that we have come to expect. Jeremy Hunt’s 2015 intervention on imposing strict new working conditions on the profession and the NHS as a whole very nearly broke the back of the NHS that very winter. And it became Rachel’s role thanks to her previous career in TV news that she became the face of TV interviews during NHS Junior doctors strikes that followed.
I hope sincerely that the Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt has read Rachel Clarke’s passionate memoir but I doubt it. I am passionate about our NHS and the heroes that work in the NHS. I cannot praise Your Life in My Hands high enough. It you care about the future of the NHS then this is a book you must read. To Rachel Clarke I say thank you for writing this important book that in years to come may yet be a book every junior doctor will want to read. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
320 Pages.
October 25, 2017
This is a tough read but it stands proudly next to the work of other doctors like Atul Gawande and Henry Marsh who have provided important insights into the lives of medical practitioners, desperately trying to meet the expectations of their patients and their expectations of themselves. I think we often forget that doctors are human, too, in our desire for them to provide clear diagnoses and to make us well.
Clarke writes well, as one might expect from someone whose first career was in journalism. A brave idealism led her to gain her medical qualifications later in life than normal and her commitment shines from every page. But the inspiration for the book is much darker and she clearly sets out the contrast between the many equally committed staff working in the NHS and the politicians who perversely choose to undermine their work, ignoring evidence and seeking to shift blame for the undoubted shortcomings of a grossly under-resourced service. Although she tries to end on a hopeful note, the message of this book is gloomy but it needed to be written.
Clarke writes well, as one might expect from someone whose first career was in journalism. A brave idealism led her to gain her medical qualifications later in life than normal and her commitment shines from every page. But the inspiration for the book is much darker and she clearly sets out the contrast between the many equally committed staff working in the NHS and the politicians who perversely choose to undermine their work, ignoring evidence and seeking to shift blame for the undoubted shortcomings of a grossly under-resourced service. Although she tries to end on a hopeful note, the message of this book is gloomy but it needed to be written.
August 13, 2020
An unflinching exploration of the various problems that are plaguing the NHS at present. Coupled with stories from the trenches, Clarke explores how the NHS struggles to support the people who believe in it so fervently.
One of the major problems as she sees it, is the lack of candour in government about the capabilities of the NHS. Jeremy Hunt made headlines with his claims that a 7 day NHS would be a simple, easy jump start for the sluggish health service, without any serious evidence. No one in government seemed to acknowledge that this did not work. In fact, any news about understaffed hospitals, patients having to undergo surgical procedures in hallways, or being stuck on gurneys for hours, seems to have been brushed under the rug.
However, she ends on a message of hope. The special place that the NHS holds in the hearts of Britons, as bastion of the nation, should inspire them to demand better of their government; to be more open and honest about the capabilities of the NHS with the resources it has available.
One of the major problems as she sees it, is the lack of candour in government about the capabilities of the NHS. Jeremy Hunt made headlines with his claims that a 7 day NHS would be a simple, easy jump start for the sluggish health service, without any serious evidence. No one in government seemed to acknowledge that this did not work. In fact, any news about understaffed hospitals, patients having to undergo surgical procedures in hallways, or being stuck on gurneys for hours, seems to have been brushed under the rug.
However, she ends on a message of hope. The special place that the NHS holds in the hearts of Britons, as bastion of the nation, should inspire them to demand better of their government; to be more open and honest about the capabilities of the NHS with the resources it has available.
July 4, 2021
Although it’s written by a doctor, this is not a book about medicine. It’s a book about political strife in the NHS between 2014-17. The author is an excellent communicator, an engaging writer, and comes over as extremely committed to her cause. But this isn’t a story about being a junior doctor: it’s a story about the creaking system and political spin; the imposition of new work contracts; the constant loss of medical staff unable to cope with awful conditions, and the impact that underfunding and understaffing was having on patient care.
And all that was before the pandemic…
I prefer reading memoirs from doctors which are about diagnosis, healing and treatment. Inevitably, politics often creeps in. But this is the opposite. It’s a political book with some medical interludes used to demonstrate (the often entirely valid) point.
So while I didn’t disagree with the author, I didn’t actually enjoy reading this much!
5/10
And all that was before the pandemic…
I prefer reading memoirs from doctors which are about diagnosis, healing and treatment. Inevitably, politics often creeps in. But this is the opposite. It’s a political book with some medical interludes used to demonstrate (the often entirely valid) point.
So while I didn’t disagree with the author, I didn’t actually enjoy reading this much!
5/10
April 6, 2018
Mixed feelings about this one. Think the problem was the writing style and the author, and not the actual message. Although I do recognise that its angry tone is completely justified, it would have been nice to see more constructive criticism instead of just scathing criticism. A polemic such as this one would be more effective if the author gave her suggestions for a better future rather than just rant about the past and present. Nevertheless, this is an incredibly important book that the entire British public should read, but it's sad that the people who need to hear its message most (Theresa May & co) will never deem it important enough.
November 28, 2017
As a fourth year medical student, I enjoyed this book, even though at times it almost entirely destroyed any motivation I had to carry on in medicine. Dr Rachel Clarke offers an insight into the daily workings of the NHS few of us will ever experience, warts and all. I'd encourage anybody to read it, whether you have a medical background or not, especially if you want to truly understand what the BMA/Hunt Junior Doctor scandal was all about.
February 12, 2019
Too much politics for me - the first one of these books I have struggled to enjoy.
January 15, 2018
This review was originally posted on Waterstones.com.
Thank you to Metro publishing for sending me a copy of this book for the purpose of a review.
This book is powerful, poignant and passionately argued throughout. You can feel Dr. Clarke’s passion for her profession and the depth of her care for her patients - it is almost visceral.
She vividly illustrates the excruciating workload of our healthcare staff and the real strain of our NHS and is a must-read for anyone interested in the issue. It is mostly definitely a polemic, however, so those put off by political focuses may find other medical memoirs more up their alley.
It is difficult not to compare it to other recent medical memoirs, unfair as it may seem, but the political focus (which is sometimes repeated to exhaustion, though I see why this is necessary) sets it apart from the fascinating medical stories of Do No Harm and Admissions, as well as the humour and accessibility of This is Going to Hurt, so those picking up this book expecting it to be similar may be disappointed. That is not to say this book is not full of heart and eye-opening anecdotes, however.
Dr. Clarke is clearly in love with medicine but sometimes her writing reads as - not arrogant, but something akin to it - that her readers might not be able to understand exhaustion or that there are no other fulfilling jobs or the reader will not understand her macabre humour if we are non-medics - is sometimes patronising, in a way that other medical memoirs haven’t struck me as. I have a feeling this is a personal quip - especially as someone with many doctors as friends - and this is just how the author illustrates her passion, so please take this criticism with a grain of salt.
One chapter I found weak was the Oestrogen chapter, which focused on sexism and gender issues. Unfortunately for me, this is a subject in which I’m rather well-versed (even in a medical context) and was tired of hearing the same statistical arguments which have not been subject to much rigour. In an older article for the Huffington Post, the writer claimed that women do not make the same as men for the exact same job - she does not repeat that debunked (but persistent) claim here, but instead implies that the reasons it exists - part time work, specialties, overtime, etc - are due to sexism. That if men were offered the same job flexibility as women, the wage gap would disappear - ignoring that 20% of part-time positions in the NHS are undertaken by men (if 80% are taken by women, as she claims) and that this has been tried and emphasised in Scandinavian countries, but part-time work is split between the sexes as much as it has ever been. Another bizarre claim was that there are no cerebral differences between the sexes - now, there tend to be statistical differences but of course, individual differences vary more. But to say they are none runs against research.*
There is also the assumption that equality of outcome rather than equality of opportunity is somehow the goal - I can’t think why any cogent thinker would assume a lack thereof must mean a sexist system, but there you go. This isn’t the place for me to criticise each claim made in that chapter, but it is too easy for me to do so - which is in itself problematic. That isn’t to downplay some of the terrible anecdotes in that chapter or that there is no sexism - obviously not working in medicine I can only sympathise with her experiences, and in fact Clarke comes across as much more reasonable and honest than most feminist rhetoric I’ve read in recent years and her message that she has never let the fact of her sex hold her back or hurt her confidence is refreshing. Also, I do actually agree with her that other professions in the UK could offer more part-time work for men, for the sake of their own freedom rather than ‘closing gender gaps'. But that making sure men and women make the same choices in equal numbers is somehow a marker for progress and will make either sex happy seems antithetical to liberal values to me.
All that aside, I did enjoy this book and I admit that many of her anecdotes brought me to tears. I am sure she is a kind and excellent doctor but I had a few qualms , though I’m sure these are idiosyncratic. I was caught between giving this book three or four stars, but know that my true score is somewhere between the two. Overall, if you are in any way interested in the state of the NHS, and are looking to understand the struggles of its staff, don't pass this book up.
*In fact much research on sex differences are stifled precisely because they do not show what popular thought would like them to - to the point that we will crown books containing falsehoods as winners for scientific book prizes (See Testosterone Rex, for example). All the research does emphasise that individual differences matter more and men and women should be treated as such, however, and I am not suggesting that the negative remarks about women's abilities in the chapter are true or justified. Starting points on this topic would probably be Steven Pinker and Simon Baren-Cohen, as well as all the criticism of Cordelia Fine's Testosterone Rex by scientists).
Thank you to Metro publishing for sending me a copy of this book for the purpose of a review.
This book is powerful, poignant and passionately argued throughout. You can feel Dr. Clarke’s passion for her profession and the depth of her care for her patients - it is almost visceral.
She vividly illustrates the excruciating workload of our healthcare staff and the real strain of our NHS and is a must-read for anyone interested in the issue. It is mostly definitely a polemic, however, so those put off by political focuses may find other medical memoirs more up their alley.
It is difficult not to compare it to other recent medical memoirs, unfair as it may seem, but the political focus (which is sometimes repeated to exhaustion, though I see why this is necessary) sets it apart from the fascinating medical stories of Do No Harm and Admissions, as well as the humour and accessibility of This is Going to Hurt, so those picking up this book expecting it to be similar may be disappointed. That is not to say this book is not full of heart and eye-opening anecdotes, however.
Dr. Clarke is clearly in love with medicine but sometimes her writing reads as - not arrogant, but something akin to it - that her readers might not be able to understand exhaustion or that there are no other fulfilling jobs or the reader will not understand her macabre humour if we are non-medics - is sometimes patronising, in a way that other medical memoirs haven’t struck me as. I have a feeling this is a personal quip - especially as someone with many doctors as friends - and this is just how the author illustrates her passion, so please take this criticism with a grain of salt.
One chapter I found weak was the Oestrogen chapter, which focused on sexism and gender issues. Unfortunately for me, this is a subject in which I’m rather well-versed (even in a medical context) and was tired of hearing the same statistical arguments which have not been subject to much rigour. In an older article for the Huffington Post, the writer claimed that women do not make the same as men for the exact same job - she does not repeat that debunked (but persistent) claim here, but instead implies that the reasons it exists - part time work, specialties, overtime, etc - are due to sexism. That if men were offered the same job flexibility as women, the wage gap would disappear - ignoring that 20% of part-time positions in the NHS are undertaken by men (if 80% are taken by women, as she claims) and that this has been tried and emphasised in Scandinavian countries, but part-time work is split between the sexes as much as it has ever been. Another bizarre claim was that there are no cerebral differences between the sexes - now, there tend to be statistical differences but of course, individual differences vary more. But to say they are none runs against research.*
There is also the assumption that equality of outcome rather than equality of opportunity is somehow the goal - I can’t think why any cogent thinker would assume a lack thereof must mean a sexist system, but there you go. This isn’t the place for me to criticise each claim made in that chapter, but it is too easy for me to do so - which is in itself problematic. That isn’t to downplay some of the terrible anecdotes in that chapter or that there is no sexism - obviously not working in medicine I can only sympathise with her experiences, and in fact Clarke comes across as much more reasonable and honest than most feminist rhetoric I’ve read in recent years and her message that she has never let the fact of her sex hold her back or hurt her confidence is refreshing. Also, I do actually agree with her that other professions in the UK could offer more part-time work for men, for the sake of their own freedom rather than ‘closing gender gaps'. But that making sure men and women make the same choices in equal numbers is somehow a marker for progress and will make either sex happy seems antithetical to liberal values to me.
All that aside, I did enjoy this book and I admit that many of her anecdotes brought me to tears. I am sure she is a kind and excellent doctor but I had a few qualms , though I’m sure these are idiosyncratic. I was caught between giving this book three or four stars, but know that my true score is somewhere between the two. Overall, if you are in any way interested in the state of the NHS, and are looking to understand the struggles of its staff, don't pass this book up.
*In fact much research on sex differences are stifled precisely because they do not show what popular thought would like them to - to the point that we will crown books containing falsehoods as winners for scientific book prizes (See Testosterone Rex, for example). All the research does emphasise that individual differences matter more and men and women should be treated as such, however, and I am not suggesting that the negative remarks about women's abilities in the chapter are true or justified. Starting points on this topic would probably be Steven Pinker and Simon Baren-Cohen, as well as all the criticism of Cordelia Fine's Testosterone Rex by scientists).
August 13, 2020
This was an excellent read. I got hold of it because I'd read a review of Clarke's latest book, Dear Life, and decided to give this a go first; maybe it caught my interest with all the 'clap the NHS' stuff over the last few months, which has been followed by the news that there is apparently no money to properly fund the NHS or give frontline staff a well deserved raise in pay. Just as well they got all that applause then, eh?
I've seen some sniffy comments on here about Rachel Clarke's political leanings, which seem to disregard that this is a book about her actual experiences working in a hospital A&E unit. Of course it will be political - the NHS always has been - but these stories need to be told, and far from being a blinkered anti-tory rant, it offers solutions, or areas where things can improve if the government would just be willing to be honest with us. Clarke is a confident storyteller; we've all sat in hospital waiting rooms or by a relative's bedside, and Clarke gives us an idea of everything that's going on around us while our attention is on ourselves or our loved ones. It's never less than riveting, and if it doesn't make you angry, then I don't want to know you.
I've seen some sniffy comments on here about Rachel Clarke's political leanings, which seem to disregard that this is a book about her actual experiences working in a hospital A&E unit. Of course it will be political - the NHS always has been - but these stories need to be told, and far from being a blinkered anti-tory rant, it offers solutions, or areas where things can improve if the government would just be willing to be honest with us. Clarke is a confident storyteller; we've all sat in hospital waiting rooms or by a relative's bedside, and Clarke gives us an idea of everything that's going on around us while our attention is on ourselves or our loved ones. It's never less than riveting, and if it doesn't make you angry, then I don't want to know you.
September 8, 2020
I was really surprised by how much I didn't enjoy this book. It should be called "The NHS In Crisis: A Junior Doctor's Story." There is precious little content focusing on doctor/patient interactions, which, from the title, is what I was expecting. Instead, it's heavily political and heaving with frustration. Which is understandable - can you imagine having a job close to your heart, a desire to help people in need, but having your hands constantly tied, and road blocks appearing in front of you?
How the NHS is still going I don't know. But I'm grateful that it is and that there are people like this doctor doing their best to help their patients.
My issue is that this book is not really about a doctor and her patients, but a treatice on the state of British politics and healthcare. That's all well and good but I think a lot of people will pick it up expecting medical tales, rather than political ones.
It's thick with frustration, no resolutions, and a desperately tentative optimism. I feel like I've been picked up by the lapels and shaken, but I don't quite know what to do with what I just experienced. I suppose that's how the author feels too.
How the NHS is still going I don't know. But I'm grateful that it is and that there are people like this doctor doing their best to help their patients.
My issue is that this book is not really about a doctor and her patients, but a treatice on the state of British politics and healthcare. That's all well and good but I think a lot of people will pick it up expecting medical tales, rather than political ones.
It's thick with frustration, no resolutions, and a desperately tentative optimism. I feel like I've been picked up by the lapels and shaken, but I don't quite know what to do with what I just experienced. I suppose that's how the author feels too.
February 8, 2023
A brilliantly written(the author was a journalist before a Dr) and frightening but starkly true picture of the NHS. This is echoed by 2018 TV programmes like 'Ambulance' and 'Hospital' as well as friends working in high pressurised NHS environments where firefighting is all they are managing to do. Whilst it is true that the NHS was not created to deal with the wide range of treatments that are now available, and there are areas of waste, for example in the administration of prescription medicines, society and governments surely need to evolve to alleviate the problems. Something needs to be done.
July 14, 2017
I loved Henry Marsh's "Do No Harm" and Paul Kalanithi's "When Breath Becomes Air" so I really hoped this wouldn't disappoint - and it certainly didn't. All of the fear, wonder, pain and joy of medicine are in the book. The author was a journalist before she became a doctor and this shows. There is amazing attention to the details that bring alive what it's really like to be there in the hospital at 4am. It's also a calm but powerful attack on the NHS cuts that may end up destroying our health service. Loved it.
June 10, 2018
A frightening account of life as a junior doctor on the NHS front-line. I felt Rachel Clarke’s pain, frustration, fear and sheer exhaustion throughout the book when she so often found herself out of her depth. I completely understand her desire to leave medicine when she felt she wasn’t doing a good enough job and was letting her patients down. Luckily for the NHS (and patients they care for), there are a lot of ‘Rachel Clarke’ s employed by them who are prepared to fight for what they believe in. Well done! What would we do without the likes of you?
August 5, 2017
I had so many mixed emotions reading this book which made me both cry and smile. This is a heart-rending honest account of what it really means to be a junior hospital doctor working in the NHS. I knew Doctors/nurses were stretched and understaffed but my eyes were opened even more. What came through so strongly thoughout the book was Rachel's unwavering compassion and commitment for her world of medicine and her patients
September 14, 2017
Excellent book which served its purpose well drawing attention to duplicitous politicians and the harm that can be done by hospital trust administrators who are neither medically qualified nor scientifically savvy. Mood rousing rather than statistic packed but with many potent anecdotes taken from the personal experience of the author.
June 10, 2020
A fascinating insight into the working of a junior doctor, working in the criminally underfunded NHS that is used a political football.
Anybody who has seen members of the current government applauding on a Thursday night and praising the staff, whilst constantly denying them the resources they so desperately require, will realise that these gestures are meaningless.
Anybody who has seen members of the current government applauding on a Thursday night and praising the staff, whilst constantly denying them the resources they so desperately require, will realise that these gestures are meaningless.
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