In Stitches by Dr Nick Edwards

An e-mail arrives from Dr Nick Edwards asking me to publicise his book In Stitches: The Highs and Lows of Life as an A&E Doctor.

I don't usually do that sort of thing, but it sounds rather good:

Dr Nick Edwards is an Accident and Emergency (A&E) doctor working in the UK and a passionate believer in the NHS. However the reforms, political correctness and the Anglo-Saxon culture of binge drinking and fighting and the resulting A&E visits are a strain on his sanity. So to keep up his morale, he began writing down his feelings - a form of literary cathartic therapy - the results of which make up this book.

From dealing with cardiac arrests and car accidents, to people with 'Arrest Avoidance Syndrome' and others who hadn't quite read the big red sign above their heads as they walked into A&E, In Stitches paints a vivid picture of what it's really like working at the sharp end of the NHS today. It's funny, it's heartbreaking and it's infuriating. It's also more informative than any government press release.

There was an interview with Nick Edwards - or "Nick Edwards", as it is a pseudonym - in the Guardian last month.