Book Review: Are You *Really* The Doctor? by Matthew Hutchinson ★★★⯪☆

A few months ago, I went to see Dr Hutchinson record his stand-up comedy special for the BBC - it's about his experiences working in the NHS as a Black doctor. As the title of the book implies, some of the public can be a mite suspicious that anyone with even a hint of melanin can rise beyond being a porter or, at a push, a nurse.

Much like Adam Kay's "This Is Going To Hurt", this is part biography, part rant about the NHS, and part humorous look at what it takes to be a modern doctor. Hutchinson's book has rather less gallows humour and rather more racism.

The problems of racial inequality in the NHS aren't just focussed on patients; they're also reflected in the way staff are treated. Rather than just recounting all the abuse he's been subject to, the book takes a good look at the actual statistics. Of course, this makes for slightly grim reading at times, so the frequent injections of humour are most welcome.

The UK quite often seems in the shadow of larger cultures. As the book points out:

This same issue is understudied in the UK – to the point where the absence of research is glaring. While we are clearly not just a little America, we aren’t so different that we can be confident we’re not replicating the same here.

Because of that, at times the book does feel a little bit like the "we have [racism] at home" meme.

There's an almost relentlessly cheery irreverence to some of the issues - but what else can you do? Sometimes it takes a good dose of comedy to cut through the bleakness. There's a slight streak of ageism within the book - especially when it comes to older doctors trying to use new technology. Although, to be fair, that was also my experience when working at NHSX. There are some people within the system who are desperate for it to remain preserved in aspic as even minor improvements are a threat to their position in the hierarchy.

A minor grumble, the problem I have with books like this - and with The Secret Barrister - is that a lot of the moaning about how hard it is to become a professional doctor / lawyer just generates a giant shrug from me. Every piece of medical media in the last 50 years talks about how bone-crunchingly hard it is. All I can think of is "none of this should be coming as a surprise to you!" Should it be easier (and less sleep depriving) to be a doctor? Sure! But given it isn't, perhaps dial down on the clichés of how uniquely awful your chosen career is.

The book isn't just a list of complaints, of course, everything is backed up with statistics (although unreferenced). Thankfully, the book ends with some practical suggestions of how the NHS can improve. It would certainly be interesting to read a version of this from 2046 to see how much has changed - given the improvements already bearing fruit, I'd hope that the UK health service would become much less racist over time.