Nabbed this from the free bookshelf at work.

I read this in a day. Partly it's not a long read, partly it's a very easy and addictive read and partly I was needing the distraction. But overall, really, read it. Just read it. This the diary of a junior doctor in the early 2000s in the NHS in England. London area I think. Down south anyway. After his training he goes to specialise in obs and gyn so there's a lot about giving birth, things getting stuck in orifices - unbelieveable what people decide to stick in themselves - and the various dramas of a late night shift at a hospital. It's funny reading but I wouldn't say it's done unkindly. We all do stupid things, and the human body just sometimes seems to want to self destruct in a million strange ways. If you don't laugh through the woes you'd go mad.

There is a tragic element to this book - the appauling treatment of staff at hospitals in the case of their T&Cs. I totally get that you've got to put the hours in to get the experience and become competant. But a 90 hour week? A doctor who is so sleep deprived he falls asleep at the wheel of his car? Who has to miss his own holidays? That's not ok treatment for any employee quite fankly, but considering you put your life and well being in the hands of these people, they should be employed with dignity. Kay quit medicine after working about 10 years in this environment. I'd be curious to know what the drop out rate of young doctors is, and how much that could be reduced if they had more reasonable working hours per week, were treated better... you know, rather than the government waffling, oh, we'll train a load more doctors/import in more - why not just look after the ones we've already got?! Just a thought. And I can't say I was a fan of Jeremy Hunt and the conservatives before I read this, but this book has lowered my opinion of them even more. The NHS is an absolute treasure and it's a disgrace that anyone could let bits be snipped off for privatisation. Snip snip snip and then it's all gone.

I know at the moment the BBC have a series running of this with the wonderful Ben Withshaw. Might have to look that up at some point.

Going to the charity shop next week with a few others.