Book Review: "The Doctor Will See You Now: The highs and lows of my life as an NHS GP" By: Dr Amir Khan

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

I wanna start off by saying two things before I forget:  First, every book I read starts off with the full five stars and this book is no different.  Second, I'm a nosey parker so the title of this book really piqued my interest so I bought it straight away... let's hope it doesn't disappoint me now lol

Just finished the first chapter and I'm already fighting back the tears.  I was a bit confused by the first few pages, talking about the authors trip to the garden centre and what on earth it had to do with a GP and his patients.  I was tempted to knock off a star but I'm so glad I didn't now... still a firm 5 stars, thankfully.

Nosey parker question one - the author (who's a newly qualified male GP) has just had to examine a lady "down below" who agreed to a chaperone - all fine and dandy so far yeah?  Here comes the nosey parker bit - does the chaperone have her back to the doctor, reassuring the patient, or does she face the doctor to make sure he's not doing things he shouldn't please?  I've never had a chaperone in any of my examinations (they've been offered, I just haven't felt the need is all) so haven't got a clue what actually happens with them is all and now seems like the ideal opportunity to find out lol

Up to chapter four now and those five stars are still firmly in place.  There was a 3 year old patient with a rare heart problem and the doc wanted to get to know more about her medical issues so that he could keep a better eye on her in the future... I'm wondering if it's like that with my GP too, 'cos I've got two rare illnesses (one neurological and the other with my mental health, fortunately not with my heart), so does my GP rub his hands in excitement each time I contact him, or am I just another patient?

Oh no!  Chapter 6 must have been so hard to write and emotional to re-live!

The end of chapter 9 made me sooo grateful... it must be things like that which make it so worthwhile for doctors and the people they manage to persuade their patients to contact.

Chapter eleven is quite gross, so don't eat or drink anything you want to keep down when you read it.  The doctor has an amazing way of making even the grossest things sound normal and even, dare I say it, fun and humorous!  If only more doctors were like him!

We're onto painkillers and the new advice being to reduce/stop them but that there's no other way to stop the pain atm.  I swear by TENS machines - it takes a bit of trial and error to find the right one for you and they are pretty expensive to buy, but they are an awesome painkiller and literally the only thing that stopped my Endometriosis pain!  If more doctors prescribed those instead of painkillers then surely it'd be cheaper and healthier in the long-run??

Just finished the last page and those five stars are so well deserved... there hasn't been a single reason to knock off a star and I am heartily recommending it to everyone.  Medical bods are under a huge amount of pressure every day at work and the corona virus has added even more pressure.  Next time you use the NHS, please don't hesitate to say "thank you" and maybe consider sending a thank you card too.  Thank you for opening my eyes, Dr Khan and thank you for caring so much about your patients during this awful time!