Customer Reviews

Trust Me, I'm (Still) a Doctor

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Dr Phil Hammond is unashamedly open about his profession. He provides a rare insight into the dark side of medical culture and training. As patients we can sometimes experience an overwhelming pressure to keep quiet and hand over our health care lock,stock and barrel to the doctor sitting in front of us. Doctors may want to do their best for every patient they meet, but in this book Hammond reveals to us a real human tapestry against which failure and mistakes occur routinely and unsurprisingly given the historical background, culture and initiation rites of medical students. It is a sad tale and it needs changing not only for the well being of patients but for the well being of doctors too. His message is like a clarion call to the public. Inform yourselves, remain constructively sceptical, and take responsibility for your health care. Above all do not be afraid to ask questions. If you don't know which questions to ask Dr Hammond has thoughtfully provided a list for you. There is also a message to the Royal Colleges. Open your eyes and end your culture of cover up and secrecy. Regulate your profession prospectively, be accountable for your mistakes. Patients do not expect you to be GOD, they expect you to give them clear, real anwers to the difficult questions they ask, so they can make informed choices which maintain their self- respect and dignity. Next time you are in a hospital as a patient make sure you have access to this book. it will act as a powerful advocate of your well-being and give you a measure of autonomy. Maria Shortis - parent of child who died following heart surgery at Bristol in 1987. Founder member BHCAG (Bristol Heart Children Action Group) Director CDCA -Constructive Dialogue for Clinical Accountability

The old adage is that most people know more about how their car works than they do about their body. And most people ask more questions of the bloke fitting new brake-pads than the surgeon about to take out their appendix. This odd relationship between patient and doctor (patient: startled rabbit, doctor: headlamp) is summed up in the ironic title of 'Trust Me..' It's a book patients should probably read, unless they are of an especially rabbit-like disposition. Like every other doctor I know, I am aware of at least one 'colleague' who I wouldn't let within six feet of me holding anything sharp, but I'm still not sure what to do about it.

There are brief essays about the highlights of the career of each Secretary of State for Health in the last twenty or thirty years interspersed with excerpts from the author's 'Private Eye' column. There are also items about various illnesses and high profile cases and scandals - including the Bristol heart scandal (exposed by Dr Hammond). The style is down to earth and straightforward and there is an excellent section at the end of questions patients should be asking their doctors about any treatment they're given. One thing that especially sticks in my mind is the comment that only a third of patients on long term medication take it properly. If that is the case then how can we be sure whether such drugs really work? There is definitely food for thought in this particularly for anyone who is on long term medication for any reason or for anyone about to have any sort of treatment in hospital. If you know anyone in this situation - do them a favour and buy them this book - if nothing else it could get them better treatment in hospital if they leave it lying around prominently!

As an avid Private Eye reader, I enjoy Hammond's exposure of the dark side of healthcare but this collection of columns spanning over 16 years is a truly engrossing history of the mismanagement of the NHS under both Tory and Labour governments. Hammond is equally harsh on his own profession, and particularly the medical establishment, for protecting its own and allowing dangerous practice to thrive. Despite all the platitudes about patient safety, NHS care is still of very variable quality and riddled with avoidable error. Hammond's analysis becomes more thoughtful as he gets older, and he tries to convince us that patients can make their healthcare safer if they ask enough awkward questions. It's a laudable effort, and darkly humorous, but the British seem fiercely wedded to their local hospital and many would prefer to, say, die under a dabbler in Cornwall rather than travel to a specialist unit in Devon. Hammond is at his best cutting through the crap of mindless reform, management jargon and professional arrogance, and at his worst on the cover, where he's got sticky fingers and looks like he's smiling through liver failure. But then maybe that's the point. Don't trust them just because they're doctors. Ask for a random breath test and a hand wash first.

Anyone with an interest in the NHS should read this book (and that should be everyone in Britain, since we all fund the service and will probably all use it at one time or another). The first half describes the way our doctors are trained, framed by Dr. Hammond's own experiences. Despite the fact that the author is a comedian as well as a doctor, this is a sobering, if not terrifying, read. Dr. Hammond is not afraid to ruffle feathers, or to analyze his own professional inadequacies, and probable reasons for them. The problems he highlights (among them secrecy, arrogance, lack of appropriate training and supervision, lack of audit or accountability, an administrative structure that forces hospitals to compete against each other for patients, and, finally, simple lack of sleep) can all combine to create tragedies like the child heart surgery scandal in Bristol and the many other unnecessarily poor surgical and treatment outcomes covered in the book and in the tv series of the same name. The book isn't all about problems, however. It is also about the patient taking more responsibility for the system. If, as Dr. Hammond states, we get the healthcare system we deserve, then we deserve better, and we have to demand better. He suggests that it is up to us to start asking for more information, both from our own GPs and from the government, to ensure that we are receiving the best and most sensible care possible, and that doctors meet at least a minimal standard of competence for any procedures they perform. In order to help you inform yourself, the second half of the book takes a walk through the research on some common medical problems, suggesting some questions you might want to ask, and some sources for more information. Obviously, you *can* get good quality care from the NHS, but I think Dr. Hammond wants us to know that doctors are not gods, and the system does not necessarily have your best interests at heart. This book deserves a wide audience. Read it!

This book is a must for anyone who wants to take charge of their own health and put doctors firmly back in their place while they are at it. The first half is autobiographical and explains where Phil Hammond comes from. The stories of his medical student days as a hard drinking rugby player are grim, but he cannot have been the only one trying to kick the habit of drinking hard to smother the sympathy he felt for patients. The story of his pivotal role in the Wisheart affair makes me ashamed to be a member of a guild which consistently tried to cover up rather than face its own problems. The second part of the book is a complete change of pace. He clearly and amusingly reviews the evidence for treatment of the common cold through to strokes and heart attacks. Here is everything an intelligent member of the public should know about how to take responsibility for their own health. It is a good read

I am a fan of Dr. Phil Hammond, so my review may sound bias. However, I liked this book for a different reason than the one I purchased it for. I thought I was buying a laugh-a-minute piece of work by a person who is not afraid of saying what he thinks in an honest and forthright manner. This book is actually an insightful look at the HNS (and private work to a lesser degree) with some witty comments inbetween.

There are humourous medical books out there to make you laugh out loud ['Trust Me I'm a (Junior) Doctor', for one], but this one is for those who would like to read about our National Health Service at it's best and frightfully worst written by a humourous doctor who knows.

Dr Hammond's excellent book is written in layman's language and, indeed, highlights the desperate need for every patient to arm him or herself with knowledge in order to counter the very real threat to health represented by many members of the medical profession. I, myself, suffer from arachnoiditis, an Iatrogenic (doctor-caused) disease brought about by invasive spinal procedures. I am in the forefront of the fight for justice and compensation for victims - but it is a lonely and hard battle. We need more people like Hammond to tell it as it is.

Be aware, this is not Medicine Balls, but instead Dr. Phils columns from the Eye and other various sources on the state of the NHS. Sometimes funny but more often worrying.
This is more investigative journalism and expose than anything else, it's still written in a humourous style but it's not comedy.
having said that it's a great book, Dr. Phil is a very improtant journalist and like with most activism, if he wasn't doing it, who else could we rely on to do it?

We desperatly need more doctors like Hammond to expose the medical schools terrible teaching methods and the attitude of many doctors towards patients as well as the appalling lack of skill and safety. Unfortunatly, the NHS isn't "the envy of the world" and everything is detailed in this very humourous,well written book.