Reviewed by Mary Ferguson

This non-fiction book is a collection of diary entries written by Adam Kay during his medical training between 2004 and 2010.

It’s absolutely superb. I never imagined I would find anything other than a novel to be a page-turner, but this was exactly that. I thought about this book a lot and looked forward to going to bed so I could read it.

Kay manages to mix heart-breaking memoirs from his time in obstetrics and gynaecology with laugh-out-loud humour and a wit that doesn’t get tiresome. He describes in intense detail the horrors of childbirth, which is the only reason I didn’t give it a full five out of five. Personally, I found that a little off-putting!

This is an important read for anyone with any kind of stake in the NHS – whether you’re a patient, an employee, or simply someone who makes National Insurance contributions. It shows the human side of a service that we simply could not live without.

Kay is now a comedian, about as far from the NHS as you can get, and after reading this book it’s easy to see how he got there. His razor-sharp humour offers light relief from the despair of some of the situations he describes, producing a truly unique book that is very hard to put down. Everyone should read it.

Marks out of 5? 4.5