Product Description

Special 60th Anniversary of the NHS Edition. The world is full of TV doctors, but only Dr Phil has appeared on Have I Got News For You seven times and Countdown thirty-four times, a true mark of greatness (whatever Lord Winston says). He is also Private Eye's medical correspondent and possibly the only comic to have appeared at a Public Inquiry. And to mark the 60th Anniversary of the NHS, Dr Phil was summoned by robot-assisted health minister Lord Darzi to help the NHS rediscover its happiness. Not all of Phil's opinions made it into the Darzi review, so here they are in full, in a shiny new epilogue. Dr Phil (46, Capricorn) has worked in the NHS for twenty-one years but only used it twice. He takes no drugs (apart from Australian Shiraz) and has never knowingly been Rolfed. So how does he remain so healthy? And what sort of Doctor is he? Here, at last, are transcripts of Dr Phil's most life-enhancing consultations and comedy as well as some excellent health tips stolen from other people (especially Dr Raj).

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #107546 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
One of the most entertainingly subversive people on the planet. --The Guardian

Great to have a pint with but you wouldn't want him as your doctor! --The Times

About the Author
Dr Phil Hammomd is a doctor, comedian and commentator on UK health. He writes the Medicine Balls column for Private Eye and has starred in an acclaimed one-man show at the Edinburgh Fringe. Dr Phil regularly appears on Raiod 4 in 28 Minutes to Save the NHS and The News Quiz and on television as captain in Channel Five's Tibs and Fibs and on BBC in Trust Me, I'm A Doctor, as well as being a regular guest on Have I Got News For You.

Customer Reviews

Dr Ten Thumbs rides again
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.

constructive satire?
Satire is very good at crystallising problems but rarely offers solutions. After mercilessly deconstructing the over-regulated Stalinist NHS, Dr Phil has a stab at improving it and health in general ('the best way to save the NHS is not to use it'). There's some interesting stuff about unleashing the creativity of the staff and moving resources upstream, all done with trade mark acerbism. At times Hammond try to cram too much in, with a plot line that ridicules TV doctors and exposes his own clinical inadequacies. I'm not sure if we should take him more or less seriously as a result. He's certainly human. And very funny.

brilliant, occasionally tasteless, subversion
What an extraordinary book. The temptation for a comic and columnist must be to just churn out old material but Hammond has produced something far more interesting with his `semi-autobiographical medico-political self-help comedy novel with poems.' It starts with a seemingly unconnected string of skittish consultations and the bulk of the book is a version of his stand up show, '89 Minutes to Save the NHS.' This is very funny and often useful, along the lines of Trust Me, I'm a Doctor. But the seemingly ridiculous quest to find the world's greatest TV doctor builds into an engaging story with a completely unexpected ending. It's not quite a novel - as Hammond puts it `I can only do narrative' - but there's a real passion behind the parody and he's at his best when satirizing himself. As a retired doctor, I loved his routine from 1989 which compares well with House of God and Cardiac Arrest in it's bleakness and reminds me how awful the Tories were for the NHS. I'm not sure what the General Medical Council will make of it - do they have a charge for bringing medicine into disrepute? - but it's a great read for doctors and anyone who uses them.