13 July 2017
We are delighted to see the publication of Your Life in My Hands: A Junior Doctor's Story by Rachel Clarke, which hits bookshelves today.
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.Rachel Clarke is an NHS hospital doctor who specialises in caring for patients at the end of life. Prior to her career in medicine, she worked as a television journalist, producing and directing current affairs documentaries on subjects such as Al Qaeda, the Gulf War and the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, before deciding at the age of 29 to retrain as a doctor. Your Life in My Hands is a searing look into the life of a junior doctor in today’s fraught NHS, and is described by Channel 4 News’ Jon Snow as “written with humanity and compassion that at times reduced me to tears.” You can see Rachel in action on the 18th of July, as she takes part in a discussion panel for the London Guardian Live event How to Save the NHS, alongside Anita Charlesworth, Sir David Nicholson and Lord Norman Warner. Your Life in My Hands is published by John Blake, and you can buy your very own copy here …
… and you can keep up to date with Rachel by following her on Twitter @doctor_oxford.