Diary of a Female GP

by Joni Martins

Based on real-life experiences. Read Diary of a Female GPto immerse yourself in the world of UK General Practice before COVID-19. The author describes a typical in the week of a female GP as she goes about her normal life at home and at work. Encounter grateful and pleasant patients, abusive and angry patients, emotional encounters with people at the End of their Life on earth. Read how she struggles to balance childcare, housework and the duties of a GP.

(approximately 480 pages)

Other books by the author: Books the Friends, family and love series: Captive Love Freed Love 18+ / Freed Love censored Hidden Love Lost Love Holiday Love
Some of the author's favourite authors are: Karen Rose, Karin Slaughter, Kathy Reichs, Lee Child, J.K. Rowling, but her work is all her own.

480 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 15, 2020

About the author

Joni Martins was born in the Netherlands and now lives in the United Kingdom with her family. She is in her fifties and she has so far written and published five books in her ‘Friends, family and love’ series. Four are available in both English and Dutch, the last one only in English. The first book, Captive Love, was published in December 2017.

Joni has always loved writing, but only seriously took up this hobby during her year of retirement. She is now working again and her writing has subsequently taken a bit of a backseat.

Joni is working on the sixth book in the series, and also is editing a supernatural romantic murder mystery.

Diary of a Female GP is a non-fiction book based on real-life General Practice in the UK and started as a NaNoWriMo project in November 2018. It was published on the 15th of August 2020.

Meet up with Joni on her blog (https://jonimartinsauthor.blogspot.co...) and website (https://sites.google.com/view/jonimar...), on Twitter (@JoniMartins3), Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. She would be happy to meet you there. The latest developments regarding her work can also be found there.

Reviews

[Taryn Brenner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that good

She could’ve let her children take part in the housework or at the very least made them clean their own bathrooms. She should’ve asked her husband to do some of the housework or cooking. She had 4 children 3 of them older and one in primary school. If she asked them to chip in it would’ve honestly been doing them a service so they learned how to do housework. I also don’t blame her daughter in the least for complaining about her mother’s early morning vacuuming waking her up. Maybe she should’ve asked her daughter to vacuum instead, it would’ve not only reduced her workload and avoided the need for her to vacuum early in the morning and avoided waking her daughter up it also would’ve taught her daughter some responsibility. She decided to make more wrk for herself by not asking for help with housework, cooking, working after hours, and many of the other things she complained about. It was her choice to wake up really early to do all the housework, bake bread daily, to do work at home, and several other things mentioned. She seemed to allow one of her partners to walk all over her by scheduling all the callbacks from the day before, on her half days, for the next day, when she was working, thus filling up appointments that could’ve and should’ve been available for patients who were sick, thus avoiding her to have to make up ‘fake’ appointments(aka sit and wait appointments) to try and fit everyone in. She seemed to complain a lot about situations she created for herself so I had an extremely hard time feeling sympathy for her to be perfectly honest.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blown awAy by the truth of this book!!!

This author speaks the big truths of life as a general practitioner and wow their job seems HARD!! They really don't get the credit they deserve. I want to give this writer all the credit! The gratitude and appreciation in serving so selflessly, managing work, family, parenting, personal and more. I can relate as a clinical social worker myself and it's often this profession is never given that same recognition as say a psychiatrist. The book is well written, detailed and tells a string of stories. My only complaint is the length, it felt a little long and took me some time to process everything and finish the whole book. This author has many other books that I hope to get into soon. Definitely recommend!

[Deborah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read 32% of this book. Absolutely a snore. If you want to read about the author getting up at 3:45 am, cleaning bathrooms, ironing, baking bread and she tells you exactly what ingredients she uses and how much of each. etc etc then please do. She mentions each of her patients and their office visits. A woman who wants birth control pills, a man who needs a note to give his employer so he can miss work and so forth. Then you have to read about her driving to school and reading, gets out of her car, speaks to other moms and tells you what they talked about and gets her son. I have never read anything like this and I hope never to again.

[Megan Rivera · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a interesting book about a female GP during the pandemic. This was a great book and I enjoyed it. It was a fantastic book.

[Chris Rawlins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reads almost literally like a series of diary entries of a General Practitioner in the UK. The point she is trying to make, and succeeds in making, is that medical practitioners are extremely busy, their schedules are full to the brim, while Teresa May seemed to suggest they were lazy and needed to fit more in their schedule. This book certainly reinforced my belief that industries should not be centrally planned, and politicians have no right to dictate how medical practitioners or anyone else should run their business. It was an ok read, but I would have likes it more if it didn't take the diary in the title so literal and was written more like a memoir with more personal insight from the author about what was going in her life.

[Siân · Rating 3 out of 5]

What irritated me most about this book was the authors ongoing moaning about the things she could have personally changed. I was mad as hell when on top of cleaning cooking and wrangling children she was out in the garden mowing lawns and weeding while her husband sat on the computer or PlayStation. For two people in high pressure roles the house split was more of a crack than a split. Also she has teen children. Get them doing chores. And the husband. And get that cleaner back. So frustrating. Bits were really interesting- her clinics but around 70% of this book is a moan about housework, cooking and childcare that’s really unequally split. I’d leave the lazy arse husband tbh and get those kids moving. Grrrr

[Jane Gundogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very methodical book giving us a week in the life of a GP. I was more than a little shocked and it made me think about my previous actions when I have visited a doctor's surgery and have been kept waiting for 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 50 minutes. Yes, I do indeed have a newfound respect for doctors and for anyone working in the medical industry today. Would I ever want to be a doctor? Nope! Never!

[Marcia Clayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an intriguing insight into the life of a female GP. Doctor Ellen, a respected and conscientious doctor, is married to Martin, who is also a doctor and they have four children. The story is compiled in the format of a diary and is a fascinating account of the difficult balancing act of running a home, caring for a family, and holding down an incredibly demanding job. It is an eye-opening story, highlighting the sheer volume of work heaped onto medical professionals. I felt the amount of housework undertaken by this poor overworked woman was quite excessive, and that maybe her husband should have been doing a little more. I particularly enjoyed hearing about all the different ailments that the patients brought to the doctor’s attention and will view my GP with renewed respect when I next visit.

[Haris AW · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diary of a female GP gives us a chance to look at the life from doctor's point of view. It is about the struggle of a healthcare professional who juggles between family, daycare and practice. My niece is a doctor and I have seen her managing stressful situations like angry and abusive patients with demanding round the clock schedules. This book takes you closer into the doctor's life where you see their anxiousness in managing patients, schedule and government's high handedness.

Joni Martins has written experience of a General Practitioner relating it aptly to the current socioeconomic situation. This book is a must read for doctors, healthcare workers and all those who would like to feel the perspective of working women.

Joni has used simple yet effective language to describe her plot in a meaningful and interesting manner.

[Lucas W Mayberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye-opening look on one GP who is anything but lazy

When you start reading this you soon begin to realise that the ‘Lazy’ in the title is very ironic. Dr Ellen is anything but lazy. Perhaps because of her upbringing where her father made her do all the housework despite being at school and university it seems Dr Ellen has turned into someone with a severe case of OCD and lack of self esteem. She wakes up every morning at 3:45am and before she has a shower she cleans their 2 bathrooms, cleans the kitchen, bakes bread, does the laundry amongst other things all before her husband and children wake up and if it’s her day off she will still do some of her GP work before she takes the kids to school. She will then go to work where she will have a hectic timetable of never ending patients. Once she finishes work she will pick up the kids from school and then make the dinner and wash up afterwards until she has an early night. And this repeats after day of the week. But then on a Saturday and Sunday when she doesn’t work she still wakes up at 6 to do all the housework that she was doing during the week. As I said before it quickly becomes apparent that she has a severe case of OCD and low self esteem. She is very hard on herself and despite doing all this work for her family she considers herself a failure. It doesn’t help though that her kids and husband take advantage of her. The husband you’ll soon see treats Dr Ellen like a door mat and doesn’t help with any of the housework. You will often find him playing computer games. I’m lucky if my wife wakes before 8 and if she caught me playing computer games while there was chores she would have killed me. I am surprised this is based on a real person. If so then that woman needs to grow a back bone and get her husband and kids helping her round the house. There was one scene where the Dr made a Chinese from scratch and after slaving away on it for ages her husband and kids left her to do the washing up. But the most annoying thing was when she finished and joined her family in the living room her husband had the nerve to ask what took her so long. Yes if this is a real person she needs to have a serious look at how her husband is treating her and change it. The writing itself is a slow pace. Don’t expect any thrilling action or sexy drama from this. In this woman’s diary she goes in great and specific detail of what her life is. When she is at work she specifically details each patient she sees, their ailments and their medication. I actually learnt a few things from that. The education and getting emotionally invested (which is the reason for the rant above) by her home life more than makes up for the slow pace. I definitely recommend you read this. I think the morale of the story was however ill you are when you visit your GP and however frustrated you feel by the long wait times just give a thought to what the GP is going though. She could be Dr. Ellen.

[Sheena Fleming · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating insight into the life of a gp. An honest read. Entertaining and funny. Relatable as the struggles any mum has between work and family. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Ruthy lavin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’d love to be able to award this book more than 2 stars but if I’m being honest, its only really worthy of that.
Although GP’s are obviously incredibly hard working and I take my hat off to those who manage to juggle their own practices with busy family life, I felt that this book could have been so much more informative and interesting.
As it is, it reads more like a diary, and is repetitive and quite boring at times.
There is way too much emphasis on this doctors home life and not enough about her work as a GP.
I found myself skipping the chapters about her home routine and the school run, I have enough of that in my own life.
I’ve read much better medical accounts from Paramedics and nurses, this could have been so interesting but sadly it was a waste of precious reading time.

[Sonia Discher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed account of what a GP goes through in a day, from family daily routines, writing prescriptions, seeing patients, doing call-backs, visits to patients outside of the office, and dealing with unreasonable agitated patients. The only thing that I thought was too detailed was that it went right down to when she had to use the toilet. I think that could have been left out. Thanks so much for sharing; it has given me a better appreciation for a doctors workload and challenges with patients.

[Ermelinda Makkimane · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Diary of a GP' is a book that will have you rooting for the doctor in it every time a hostile patient turns up for consultation. Our lady GP has to soothe a range of illnesses and egos. Her inner monologue during a patient rant betrays her need for empathy as well. Reading this I must say was an eye-opener in terms of what GPs have to face daily. I have personally found this book moving. Much respect to the humble GP. Recommend this book.

[Jemima Brigges · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enlightening

If you have ever wondered what happens behind closed doors at a GP’s surgery when everything seems quiet – Joni Martin’s diary of events, (A Week in the Life of a Female GP) describes the workload of one such GP, which I, as a former health professional, reading in retirement, found enlightening.

Written in diary form, Dr Ellen tells us in meticulous detail how she combines her life as a wife, mother, and part time GP in two general practices. It was helpful to have an outline of her family background and the father who belittled her determination to succeed in the chosen career – thus making her the pedantic person she was, constantly striving to achieve.

A factual account with a hint of internal politics in one of the practices, which added to her workload, and being the part-timer - and the person she was, Dr Ellen cleared the outstanding items. Possibly due to a difference of opinion with admin.

Whilst some parts of the diary are repetitive, the overall pattern is helpful because it itemises the kind of problems, which take time and patience to deal with. Being conscientious, she dealt with everything that came her way, because there are some issues that require a female to deal with.

Reading as a patient, I knew about standard GP appointments and the long waits on the telephone to achieve them; but was unaware how many people are called back by the GP and given come in and wait appointments – which can cause frustration to patients if they overrun.

Up to fifty calls were mentioned on one day, when Dr Ellen was covering for staff sickness and holidays, and the never-ending stream of investigations and test results to be reviewed before filing - a somewhat tedious but essential part of the job.

It was interesting to see how Dr Ellen dealt with patient expectations and sense of entitlement to what they wanted irrespective of her professional judgement regarding need. There were complaints from some that did not get their own way, and incident reports to be completed with tact and diplomacy. At work patients came first; at home, her family took precedence over her needs - an heirloom of her upbringing. She set herself an impossible timetable to achieve.

The diary also illustrates the barrage of interruptions from within the system and in the community; the need to attend practice meetings and emergency calls and visits; and counselling which all made demands on her time. A patient doesn’t know about the practice rule for a ten-minute appointment for each problem; but when they arrive, they expect the GP to give them the time they require. Dr Ellen did her best to comply, despite rising stress levels as a mother when it was apparent, she would be late leaving work to collect her son from school.

To compensate, she spent time at home reading and filing dozens of digital results – sending messages about things that her dedication to work would not allow her to leave.
Her husband, also a GP was allowed to relax, as were her children - a throwback to her youth. Her obsession with work and documentation sounds excessive, but in a litigation conscious world, following the correct procedure is the only defence in a court of law - even if it came at some cost to herself.

Having read of her ritual of completing the household tasks before her family were awake, I was pleased that she took early retirement although we have no way of knowing how long that continued before she returned to work.

It was an interesting account, which refreshed my memory about many conditions and treatments. I liked the fact that she used kneading bread dough as frustration therapy, with tangible benefits for breakfast. Others might see things differently, but having read the book this is how I perceive it and recommend it accordingly.

[Lucas W Mayberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye-opening look on one GP who is anything but lazy

When you start reading this you soon begin to realise that the ‘Lazy’ in the title is very ironic. Dr Ellen is anything but lazy. Perhaps because of her upbringing where her father made her do all the housework despite being at school and university it seems Dr Ellen has turned into someone with a severe case of OCD and lack of self esteem. She wakes up every morning at 3:45am and before she has a shower she cleans their 2 bathrooms, cleans the kitchen, bakes bread, does the laundry amongst other things all before her husband and children wake up and if it’s her day off she will still do some of her GP work before she takes the kids to school. She will then go to work where she will have a hectic timetable of never ending patients. Once she finishes work she will pick up the kids from school and then make the dinner and wash up afterwards until she has an early night. And this repeats after day of the week. But then on a Saturday and Sunday when she doesn’t work she still wakes up at 6 to do all the housework that she was doing during the week. As I said before it quickly becomes apparent that she has a severe case of OCD and low self esteem. She is very hard on herself and despite doing all this work for her family she considers herself a failure. It doesn’t help though that her kids and husband take advantage of her. The husband you’ll soon see treats Dr Ellen like a door mat and doesn’t help with any of the housework. You will often find him playing computer games. I’m lucky if my wife wakes before 8 and if she caught me playing computer games while there was chores she would have killed me. I am surprised this is based on a real person. If so then that woman needs to grow a back bone and get her husband and kids helping her round the house. There was one scene where the Dr made a Chinese from scratch and after slaving away on it for ages her husband and kids left her to do the washing up. But the most annoying thing was when she finished and joined her family in the living room her husband had the nerve to ask what took her so long. Yes if this is a real person she needs to have a serious look at how her husband is treating her and change it. The writing itself is a slow pace. Don’t expect any thrilling action or sexy drama from this. In this woman’s diary she goes in great and specific detail of what her life is. When she is at work she specifically details each patient she sees, their ailments and their medication. I actually learnt a few things from that. The education and getting emotionally invested (which is the reason for the rant above) by her home life more than makes up for the slow pace. I definitely recommend you read this. I think the morale of the story was however ill you are when you visit your GP and however frustrated you feel by the long wait times just give a thought to what the GP is going though. She could be Dr. Ellen.

[Tina-Marie Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased this book because I was intrigued to gain an insight into the life of a female GP – and a ‘lazy’ one at that - as the title declared. I understand this book was written before the COVID-19 pandemic.

I don’t think there are many of us that for one moment think of our GPs as lazy regardless of whether they work full or part-time.

I think it’s fair to say that most of us who have a family to care for, a household to run and a job to hold down struggle to find a happy balance and constantly find ourselves juggling balls in the air in order to adapt at a moment’s notice to the many dramas that can occur out of the blue. From this perspective it doesn’t matter what area you chose to work in, it can be challenging for us all.

This book gives a raw insight into the day-to-day activities of a GP, the surgery they work in, their patients and the many responsibilities GPs have – some of which I certainly wasn’t aware of and found it quite enlightening.

Whilst it was interesting to learn how this GP got up early in order to complete her household chores whilst the rest of the family were sleeping and also to ensure that she was able to make them fresh bread each day, ensure that the house was kept clean and tidy and all before she went off to work also seemed most unfair. All this as well as juggling childcare with her husband – who is also a GP. I think it perfectly reasonable for the older children to take responsibility for helping with the chores perhaps after school or at the weekend – as well as her husband too. I felt that she was choosing to place a lot of additional pressure and responsibility on herself that wasn’t necessary.

My chest tightened in recollection of my own experiences when she was held up at the surgery, unable to walk away until she had completed her patient duties with the end of the school day looming ever near! Having found myself in this situation on occasions in the past I certainly shared this angst. Perhaps some of us forget that GPs have a home life too but also many of us are unable to just walk away from an unfinished job in order to head off on the school run.

I found it interesting to gain an insight into the many interactions the GP held with her patients and the book delivered on its encounters with a range of patients. Some of which gave food for further thought.

When it came to the weekend, I found it frustrating that the GP felt compelled to log into her emails in order to deal with and clear the many requests that seem to build up at an alarming rate; repeat prescriptions, patient results, etc. In fact, this shocked me.

Overall, the insight into the life of the female GP in Joni Martins book I found intriguing but it has left me with mixed feelings.

[Abby Tilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book lays out a week in the life of a female General Practitioner (or GP) based in the UK. It goes through all seven days, breaking each down so you can see every detail of her day. While that does not sound incredibly interesting on a conceptual level, it was a very interesting and educational read.
I found myself incredibly drawn to the story and invested in seeings someone’s life that was so opposite to mine. That speaks wonders to the writing, as it was engaging and straightforward so it kept the reader focused and made it easy to read.
On a content level, I was intrigued to learn what being a GP looked like and I think I got a pretty clear picture. It’s not all diagnosing flues and putting on bandaids. It seems hard, emotionally taxing, and a little bit disgusting. People are mean, they cough on you, and expect you to do everything they want. This book gave me an even greater respect for all those in the medical field.
Dr. Ellen, the one this story is centered around, is balancing her work, hobbies, and housework during a seemingly endless week. Something I found a little hard to swallow was her ideas of what her job as a wife and mother were. She took all the housework, shopping, and cooking upon herself and didn’t delegate to her children or husband. The book did give the reason behind this to outdated ideas opposed upon her by her father, but it made me angry, as a woman, to see her feel like she had to do everything by herself. I don’t think it’s as much of a testament to all she does as much as solidifying how toxic masculinity can affect every aspect of a woman’s life.
I think this book also has become a historical piece as a look at the medical practice in a time before COVID. Reading this I found myself thinking of how things are different now and how things in the medical field in 2019 are no longer safe. I do appreciate that the author added a note at the end of the book addressing this fact.
Overall I enjoyed reading this book. It was well written, engaging, and I learned so much. I would definitely recommend.

[Abbie Underwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

Currently about 70% of the way through this book and can honestly only give it 2 stars. This book is one of the most boring I have ever read. I enjoyed learning about the GP practice and the different patients, but there was way too much info about needing to go to the toilet every 5 minutes and how upset or annoyed she was feeling by each patient. I felt the tone of the writer to be a little condescending towards some of the patients, although this can be forgiven slightly as she must see hundreds of patients who are hypochondriacs and/or are rude or impatient. The daily workload seems very difficult and stressful so I appreciate this being written for the public to read. However, my biggest gripe is the fact the author constantly complains about being tired and overworked yet chooses to wake up before 4am to bake bread that could be bought from the shop, to clean bathrooms that could be done by her husband or older children but in any case do not really need to be done every single day, and will also do all the household chores and cook meals every day even after she has had a long day at work and there are other, able members of the family who could do this. I find it very hard to sympathise with her plight when she refuses to ask for help, as it almost seems she enjoys feeling overworked. Perhaps it has a little to do with her upbringing and how she was expected to behave as a child, but surely she must know that chores can be shared by other members of the family. Her husband does not come across as controlling or expecting and demanding she does all the housework, so I'm not sure why she continues to not ask for help. This book would be a lot easier to read if there were far less of the repetitive, self-inflicted arduous housework chapters and more of what it is actually like to be a GP. Whatever job you have, we all (except clearly her husband and kids!) have household chores that need to be done, so it is really quite misleading to market a book as being about working as a GP, when 90% of the content relates to domestic work that is done by almost every family in the entire country without them writing books complaining about it.

[Chris Maddix · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the term "GP" is fairly common parlance in the US, although it appears that "General Practitioner" is more generally used in England. Having read Diary of a Female GP, I'm left with a few questions, the foremost among them being "Who would choose to have that lifestyle?" This doctor has 12-hour days, precisely metered-out schedules with wall-to-wall meetings with patients, fulfilling "callbacks" (replying to telephone queries) and filling prescription requests. This lady barely has time to use the bathroom in her breakneck day. My impression of American doctors is that they basically make their own more relaxed schedules, they see "their" patients, and much of the face-to-face time with patients is actually for "well" visits. In this book, Joni Martins paints a portrait of GP life that is altogether different - precisely scheduled appointments in which maintaining timelines is a constant worry, all the patients have maladies, and it's an impersonal world in which patients see any physician available, not "their" doctor. GP's in this system have 10 or so minutes to meet the next assembly line patient, diagnose, come up with a solution of sorts, then slam the patient out the door in deference to the next in line. Patients only have time for one complaint per visit. Presumably the person with multiple problems must return when time is available. I'm unclear what distinction is made between patients who are seen, as opposed to those whose problems are dealt with over the phone, but clearly someone makes the decisions. The nearest approximation I can make to American counterparts is military doctors, who, in my experience, tend more to see anybody who shows up.

Dr. Ellen, in this book, could parcel out a little more time in her day if she avoided the "therapy" of making her own bread and scrubbed the bathrooms less often, but even without that, the portrayed lifestyle is imposing.

[Richard E Johnson Jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provides an Inside View of a GP's Daily Grind

I enjoyed this book because of the convincingly honest view it provides of a general practioners daily grind.

The author provides a minute by minute account of what went on for one week of her life. You come to understand that general practioners are always on the clock and it's a numbers game. Standard appointments are 10 minutes and sometimes gut wrenching issues have to be dealt within that time frame or at most 20 minutes. We learn that patients who are waiting seldom think about what may have caused the doctor to run late. The GP's experiences take place in Britain but it is not hard to imagine that American family practice doctors working with large HMOs face similar pressures. This is not a slick book that picks out the most spectacular events. This is a minute by minute account. The author is going to tell the reader when she squeezes in her bathroom breaks, and there is a lot of repetition in that, for example, she ends each patient visit by advising the patient to call back if their condition doesn't improve or gets worse. Still, the repetition, the fight to squeeze in bathroom breaks, and unscheduled patients, while avoiding complaints is what makes this account ring true.

I noticed that some of the other reviewers thought that the female GP could have made her life a lot easier if she would have gotten a nanny or other household help. But having read other accounts of the lives of other female doctors I think there is no easy solution to the grind and the added challenges that are layered onto female doctors, and each must find there own path. The highlighting of these challenges and one doctors attempt to deal with them is a strength of this book Finally, because this book is in a diary format it is an easy read.

[Jane Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Diary of a Female GP, by Joni Martins.

As the title suggests, this story tells, in detail, of a normal working week for female GP, Doctor Ellen. She is married to Martin who is also a doctor and together they have four children, Archie, Alex, Amy and Adam.

When Ellen was a child, her father had repeatedly put her down, saying she would never amount to anything. But Ellen insisted she wanted to train to be a doctor. Sneered at by her father he continued to moan that career women must also do the housework as well as look after their family.
Her father’s words were so ingrained in her memories that they had stayed with her into adulthood. His cruel and selfish words fuelled her behaviour and her choices in life.
Ellen had accomplished her desires and was a respected doctor, hardworking and conscientious. Her patient was her priority. But this came at a price. Her working day began at 3.45 am. Cleaning the house was a daily routine which started with the bathrooms. The story was a little repetitive at times recounting in detail how Doctor Ellen began her working day.

I have great admiration for the NHS and for our doctors and nurses generally, those working in hospitals, local practices, and care homes everywhere. They work all the hours god sends and then more. Their dedication to their job and patient welfare is faultless and priceless.
The author has succeeded in constructing an eye-opening story, compounding the weaknesses and sheer weight of work heaped onto our medical professionals. A well-written, if somewhat challenging, story to read compiled in a diary format. I commend the author for her diligence in researching the wealth of human diseases, treatments and medical procedures that face our doctors every day.
An interesting, compelling story awarded a well-deserved five stars.

[Robert Robinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF'd - I just couldn't bear this book any longer! (Got 90% through!)

The majority of this book is written in little vignettes that read more like, well, a GP's brief report of a patient appointment rather than a non-fiction book. So, one paragraph is about fifty three year old Barry with a swollen toe, then the next is about thirty-four year old Deborah with a fever, then four year old Amy with chicken pox. It is SO boring! I mean, I guess I feel like that Arrested Development meme with the dead bird given the title of the book, but I expected more elaboration.

I also have an issue with the author's biased reporting. A couple of things bugged me:

1) She compares at least two patients to toddlers having a tantrum - fair enough, I bet she does suffer ridiculous patients at times, but it does come across as feeling superior.
2) A large part of this book is the author showing that she works incredibly hard - and really, she is like Superwoman. She gets up at 5, bakes bread every day (yes, really!), does the washing, washes the bathrooms, hoovers the stairs, all before her husband and kids get up.

There is also a section where she has to work really late (which I don't doubt) and she is so exhausted but does the shopping anyway. What is her husband doing, you ask? Playing his Playstation! And the author passes zero comment on it! He is a GP doctor too, and all he seems to do is play video games whilst the author does literally everything else.

To be honest, I had many more complaints about this book but it has tired me (much like a kid having a tantrum, the author might say...).

I did rate this two stars, however, because I liked the insight into how a GP runs: the flagging of tasks and jobs between the GPs and the receptionists seems really practical, and they are a good team!

I am immediately deleting this book now.

[Karen Inkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great insight! Public take note!

This book certainly gives you a better understanding of the amount of work that a GP has to undertake each day. Any customer facing job is hard but to constantly deal with unreasonable demands, complaints, snide comments, verbal abuse, not to mention being an agony aunt for many problems, must be emotional and physically draining. And all the time constantly clock watching as time is of the essence! However, in my opinion the amount of housework is totally excessive adding only to the stress and hubby could pull his weight a bit more, but I do understand her background and I guess it's her way of showing her worth. Some regimented routine though!
The author has clearly done a lot of research when writing this book and I enjoyed reading about the different ailments that people actually go to the doctors for! Maybe Covid has actually made people think a little more as the appointments are not as easily accessible! This could be construed as a little repetitive but isn't that what most jobs are? The workload both paperwork and patients has certainly made me think and I will definitely be a little more patient when attending a GP practice. Enjoyed!

[Marlene Cheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

At a time when many countries are facing a Health Care Crisis, this book is a glance into some of the reasons why—health carer burnout.
In one week, Dr. Ellen saw practically every health problem known to modern man—everything from ingrowing toenails to last-stages-of-life care. Pressured by 10-minute visitations, she had to diagnose/recommend treatment/refer. Not to mention, fit in emergencies/sit-and-waits/phone calls/ and out-of-office visitations. Keep smiling.
She was dealing with people, not robots. The abuse she took from some patients was unconscionable. Keep smiling.
And she was human, having to deal with her own emotional baggage, which was often triggered by patients’ stories. Don’t let your emotions show. A touch. A hug is not inappropriate.
And the hours she keeps! And her family! And her drive for perfection! She’s exhausted. It wouldn’t have surprised me, in the least, had she (by mistake) thrown a kid into the washer with the never-ending laundry and (on purpose) her husband’s play station into the trash.
We learn that Dr. Ellen retired. My question is, did she go stark raving mad?
The next time you want to complain about health care, read this book. It’s an eye-opener. Marlene Cheng--author

[Darlene Maslek Colaianni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a retired nurse, I was easily pulled in by this book. I could easily relate to the story line and follow along with Dr. Ellen's busy schedule. GPs are one of the most difficult medical fields to be in. GPs are stretched so thin and build such strong bonds with their patients. Once I read what a patient was coming into the practice for, I tried to guess the diagnosis by the symptoms they presented with. I must say, I did pretty well with my guessing, but I was intrigued by reading how Dr. Ellen handled each case with respect and compassion. The amount of caring she showed to her patients was admirable. Having to take so much work home with her to try to keep ahead left her little time to spend with her family. That is very stressful and can lead to burnout. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn more about how a medical practice runs and how they try to meet all the needs of their patients as well as their own families. Being a perfectionist added more strain to Dr. Ellen's life, for sure.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written in the format of a diary, and that was something that piqued my interest. I can't speak for everyone, but sometimes I find myself wondering a little about the everyday lives of others, wondering what their lives are truly like. I like to know little things about people, about their tastes in food, music, TV shows etc... I felt that while I was reading this, I got to know all about Dr Ellen and her life, including the 'little things', and some of the more serious aspects of what her daily life involved.

I enjoyed getting to know Dr Ellen while reading this, as she seemed a warm and compassionate person. Something else I found was that I felt a whole range of emotions while reading. I found parts of it heartwarming, parts of it enlightening, parts of it a little bit distressing. It may be too much for some readers to finish in one sitting, but I enjoyed it.

[Molly Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating insight

Follow a female GP as she faces the challenges of meeting the increasing demands of her job. This book demonstrates the complexity and range of expectations placed on GPs in the UK. Despite everything going on in in Dr Ellen’s work and personal life she has a pick up and get on attitude that is enviable!
Dr Ellen’s pathway to becoming a doctor wasn’t easy. She’s always had to be tenacious, and it’s this tenacity that pushes her on even in the face of a massively overwhelming workload.
If after reading this you still believe the rhetoric about “lazy” GPs, I’d be very surprised!
Highly recommended to anyone who wants to better understand what is really going on behind the scenes!

[Georgia Tilbrook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly not a lazy GP

I never thought that being a GP would be easy, but I feel that Dr Ellen, the book’s main character, could definitely make her home life easier for herself. The recurring theme through the book was that she worked hard at work and did everything at home, whilst her teenage children don’t do any chores at all. Her husband can surely cook dinner when his wife is running late?

The patient notes were interesting, even if they weren’t proof read very well, and l enjoyed the book overall.

[Ashleigh Reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting and eye opening look at what goes on behind the scenes at a GP practice and how much pressure our doctors are under. We follow the life of a female GP for a week and really get to see what is going on when our appointments run late. If like many people, you suspect your doctor is sitting at their desk with their feet up, drinking coffee while you have been waiting 35 minutes to be seen, maybe take a read of this book and it might give you a better perspective of the pressures they face.