This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay

*spoilers ahead*

This is a non-fiction book that introduces the life of a junior doctor who deals with 97-hour weeks and life and death decisions. It’s a raw account of Adam Kay’s time on the NHS frontline covering all the behind-the-scenes chaos.

I kept seeing clips of the TV series online and loved the humour, but wanted to read the book first, and I’m really glad I did. This Is Going To Hurt is written as a series of diary entries, making it easy to read and get through quickly. It explains the difficulties NHS staff go through and how broken the system is, especially how underpaid the staff are, despite their long hours. There is great humour mixed into the book, as Kay is very quick and witty, but it does not take away from how gruelling working in that system is.

There are some wild and crazy stories about patients; some were silly and funny to read about, but most of the time were sad and serious, especially when things went wrong that should not have happened in the first place. As expected, there are lots of medical terms, but these are always footnoted and explained throughout the book, which was super useful.

I did find this book to be an accessible, true insight into the life of workers in the NHS. It’s always something you hear about on the news or read about online, but I didn’t fully appreciate it until hearing stories on the ward. It’s crazy to think that contingency plans are not properly in place for when workers need to take sick leave, or for when staff have worked insanely long shifts and are expected to work at full efficiency, or when multiple emergencies take place simultaneously.

The NHS is constantly made into a political statement, but people forget that the NHS would not work without ordinary people, who put in the work and make it their entire life. It helped me to realise the extent to which this affects the personal lives of NHS workers, such as the practicalities around where to live during placements and making relationships work around their working schedule.

I did find it interesting that after seeing the show go viral online, there are many differences between the book and the show. There are a lot of funny examples from the book that are included, where patients are always fine and in the hospital for embarrassing reasons. However, the biggest difference between the book and the TV series is that the book doesn’t feature trainee doctor Shruti Acharya, whose storyline broke the hearts of many watching the show. The theme of Shruti’s storyline is still prevalent in the book, but it is really honed in on during the TV show.

The book gets progressively sadder, especially as we learn what made Kay stop practising and move away from medicine. It really echoed the government’s perception of what’s going on within the NHS, and it’s depressing to think that the NHS is not being supported at the capacity it should be, and how it probably never will be, due to other political issues.

Overall, despite its heavier theme, I did really enjoy reading this book, and I’m glad it got made into a TV series. Naturally, it will be a triggering book for many, as the NHS or health-related issues affect us all, but it is a short and effective non-fiction memoir that did make me smile a lot because of the humour. My only wish is that some sections were expanded on and there was more detail, but I’d still recommend this book to all.

4/5 stars