Thursday, January 22, 2015

Do No Harm - Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery. The brain as you have never thought of it


Do No Harm – Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery
By Henry Marsh


First up, I thought this book was fabulous, thought provoking, moving and all those good blurb words that it thoroughly deserved, but it should also come with a government health warning.  Husband keeled over reading the description of brain surgery in Saturday by Ian McEwan and I would be wary of handing over this book to him as I would anticipate he would hit the ground within seconds of reading the opening sentence, “I often have to cut into the brain and it is something I hate doing.”

Henry Marsh looks back over his career as a Neurosurgeon and in a series of individual chapters highlights the other side of surgery, the part the patient never sees, the discussions, analysis, involvement, detachment and skill of the surgeons.  I found his accounts mesmerising, he is very hard on himself, and includes many examples of where things go wrong and the surgery results in distress or tragedy for the patient, there is far less of the work he and his fellow surgeons do every day to transform lives and restore hope.  Having had quite a lot to do with surgeons over the past couple of years, it certainly gave me some ideas about questions to ask before surgery, but it also made me realise the off load there is for a patient, or patient’s relative, in putting your trust in the doctors – and correspondingly what a burden it is for them in shouldering that trust and faith and expectation of a positive outcome.

I wouldn't say the NHS and changes over the last 20 years in public health in the UK get much of a positive write up from Henry Marsh and anecdotes of his run ins with senior management did make me laugh, albeit it with a note of hysteria in my laughter, and I think this book should be compulsory reading for all NHS management.

Do No Harm is a book that will stay on my shelves and I know I will come back to it in future years for a refresher of Henry Marsh's humanity and honesty.

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