DR QUIN, MEDICINE MAN

Born in Glasgow and qualified as a doctor in 1983, John Quin worked as a consultant physician specialising in diabetes and endocrinology and has been writing about art, music and literature for more than 20 years. Yet for 33 years he worked as a physician for the NHS in both Scotland and England. Days on the wards were uproariously funny one minute, infinitely tragic the next. From tackling fraudulent medical students to trying and failing to induce hypoglycaemia in Glaswegian alcoholics (all in the name of research), Dr Quin packs his memoir with tales of joy and reward, of getting the diagnosis right, and the disaster of getting it wrong. Chasing Chekhov's two rabbits of medicine and writing, Quin sought solace in literature, art and music, applying the lessons of Bulgakov's Country Doctor to 1980s Glasgow, when none of the patients seemed to have a full complement of fingers, and 21st century Brighton, dealing with the consequences of a decade of austerity measures. Darkly amusing, his memoir is an acute insight into the farcical frustrations and tensions of working in a chronically underfunded NHS system but also a timely reminder of the humanity of the staff who care for us. 336pp.