Send us a text

A warm welcome back today to James Thambirajah, who is here to talk to me about a book called Heart, a History by Sandip Jauhar. This is, I will confess, a book that I probably might not have picked up voluntarily but James is very persuasive, and I'm really glad I did pick it up, because once I had  I was absolutely compelled to keep reading.  Sandip Jawa is a wonderful writer. He's a cardiologist based in the USA. And this interweaves stories, stories of people, stories of Sandeep's own life, story of patients, stories of his family, with the history of cardiology. The history of cardiology. I didn't really know a huge amount about the history of cardiology it is just fascinating to realise how far we've come over the last 50 or 100 years. I'm really thinking about the bravery of the people who chose to give up everything to explore what they thought might be going on. We've got stories of young doctors passing wires into their own arms and legs in the earliest angiograms. We've got prototype bypass machines being built. We've got people making cardiac pacemakers in their kitchens. It's absolutely incredible, really, really exciting. And I would say I'm not even particularly interested in cardiology, but this is holistic cardiology. This is the history of medicine with some cardiology and some humanity and thinking about hearts in the sense of the heart and soul of a person. It's a cracking read and I've loved talking to James about it.

Send us a text

It's a warm welcome back to a guest today. I'm delighted to be talking to Susan Matthew about Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent. Susan came on the podcast a couple of years ago and I got an email from her out of the blue recently saying, "I've just read this book, it's absolutely brilliant, I think you'd really like it and I really need to talk about it on the podcast" and I was really quite intrigued. I picked it up and it said on the cover that it was a crime novel and my heart slightly sank because I'm not a huge crime fan. But actually, I'm not convinced that this book is a crime novel. It's just a brilliant, brilliant novel with some twists and turns along the way. Maybe that's how you define what crime is.... 

There are loads of themes in here. It's a great book. Lots and lots of things to think about: adverse childhood experiences, the power of community, the importance of transitional objects, how we learn, whether labels matter. There is so much to talk about and so much to think about, and I really enjoyed talking to Susan.

Send us a text

It's a welcome back for my guest this week! I'm delighted to have Jo Maher  GP and active travel enthusiast from Sheffield one the podcast to talk about Selena Goddon's fabulous collection Pessimism is for Lightweights.  Jo and I had a great conversation about how much we love these poems. We talk about activism. We talk about the tension that there sometimes is as a healthcare professional around "are we allowed to be activists" (the answer to that question is very definitely Yes) we talk about whether it is better to seek forgiveness than permission. We talk about using humour. We talk about agency. Talk about the frustrations of the world that we both currently live and practice in and how quiet activism might be the way forwards for people as they are building up their courage muscles.

Send us a text

Sam Guglani's novella Histories captivated me from the moment I picked it up and having reread it more than once has compelled me and made me think so much. It was a huge treat to welcome him onto the podcast to talk about the book and especially how it came to be and to share some of our favourite moments.


Medicine Unboxed Sam's incredible festival is back in May 2023, have a look at the website for some brilliant audio and video recordings from previous events https://voices.medicineunboxed.org/


Follow Sam on Twitter https://twitter.com/samirguglani

Send us a text

A warm welcome to Manchester based GP registrar Lava Yuki who grew up in Ireland and is an almost exact contemporary of the writer of this week's book.   Evanna Lynch is best known for playing Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter film series and her memoir The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting  is a compelling story of what happens when you lose your creativity and how Anorexia Nervosa can erode someone's identity so profoundly that they lose sight of themselves. It is also moving, funny, engaging and full of life and hope.

Lava very generously shares some of her own lived experience of Anorexia as well as of being a Harry Potter mad teenager and growing up in Ireland in the early 2000s.

Follow Lava on twitter: https://twitter.com/lava_yuki

If you are looking for some resources to support a patient, a friend, a relative or yourself with an eating disorder the RCPsych have a great section here https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/members/your-faculties/eating-disorders-psychiatry

There's also NICE CKS https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/eating-disorders/

The RCGP have an elearning module here: https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/course/info.php?id=173

we also recommend the national eating disorders charity BEAT  https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/

Locally to where I work we have the superb charity First Steps whose website is a mine of resources even if you aren't fortunate enough to be in Derbyshire https://firststepsed.co.uk/

Send us a text

My guest today is MedTwitter royalty in the form of Bethan John. Follow her brilliant twitter self here: https://twitter.com/msbethanj

We talk about Kristen Neff's brilliant book Self Compassion and why doctors seem somehow so hardwired to be perfectionists who put themselves down at every opportunity. 

Send us a text

It was a huge pleasure to welcome Dave Hindmarsh to Bedside Reading to discuss The Culture Code  by Daniel Coyle. Dave is the brains behind GP Templates:  https://www.gptemplates.co.uk/

Follow him on twitter here: https://twitter.com/gp_templates

We talked about healthy vs unhealthy cultures, why it's sometimes easier to recognise bad leadership than practise or teach good leadership.

Send us a text

Sheffield GP Jo Maher and I know so many people in common that it felt only right that we should finally meet in person in order to record today's episode where we explore Helen Macdonald's essay collection Vesper Flights as well as talking a bit about her earlier book H is for Hawk.

Jo and I explore the power of nature, why being outside is so good for the soul and think about the risks of the countryside and the natural world becoming the preserve of the wealthy rather than something for us all.

Follow Jo on twitter http://www.twitter.com/jomaher8

Send us a text

An episode with a difference this week as we celebrate changeover week for doctors in training in the UK.

I've asked 12 GPs across the UK all with different backgrounds and interests each to recommend one book they think every GP should read. I'd argue they are all books any healthcare professional will benefit from reading.  A huge thank you to each and every one of them for being a part of this episode. You may recognise some voices as previous guests, you may recognise some names as big faces from medtwitter or the wider world of GP

A huge thanks to:

Pim Dhahan GP, Trainer and TPD  from North Birmingham Follow Pim on twitter here: https://twitter.com/DrPimPim 

Margaret Ikpoh GP Trainer East Yorkshire and Vice Chair of the RCGP. Follow her on twitter: https://twitter.com/docmagsy 

Hussain Ghandi GP Partner, trainer and the brains behind https://egplearning.co.uk/ Follow him on twitter https://twitter.com/drgandalf

Francesca Boffey First 5 GP from North Derbyshire. Follow her on twitter https://twitter.com/fboff7

Dom Patterson GP, educator and founder of https://www.fairhealth.org.uk . Follow him on twitter https://twitter.com/DocDomP

Selina Flinders GP and safeguarding lead in Bolsover.

Catriona Davis a remote and rural GP who works on Islay. Follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/catrionadavis 

Naveen Jayadev GP partner, trainer and TPD with a lead role for Differential Attainment in Derbyshire.

Emma Cunliffe a freelance GP from North Yorkshire.

Zuhriya Muazu salaried GP from Doncaster. 

James Thambyrajah GP, Vice-Chair RCGP South West Thames faculty.  Follow James on twitter https://twitter.com/JThambyrajah

Send us a text

I am so thrilled to welcome Rema Jyothirmayi back to Bedside Reading to talk about Kathryn Mannix's wonderful second book Listen.

We loved exploring the etymology of the word "tender" and why Dr Mannix might have chosen this to describe tender conversations. Rema and I loved this book and it was wonderful to share a conversation about it in which we realised that some of the same stories had leaped out for both of us.  We explore the power of stories to change our behaviour.

This is truly a book for everyone, regardless of whether they are a healthcare professional.  If you listen better, especially if you can listen well you will never regret it in any scenario.

Follow Rema on twitter: https://twitter.com/RemaJyothirmayi

We also talk briefly about the poem "Night Sister" by Elizabeth Jennings which can be found here  https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/night-sister/

Send us a text

What an absolute treat and privilege it was to speak to Dr Suzanne Koven http://suzannekoven.com/ about her incredible book Letter to a Young Female Physician.

I thought we would talk about imposter syndrome and women in medicine but actually we had a truly fantastic conversation about all sorts of other topics especially the power of stories to connect, the fact that doctors must be human first and then medical. We explore honesty, coming to writing later in life and the value of acknowledging our own doubts, foibles and vulnerabilities.

This book is an absolute gem.  Undoubtedly one I shall recommend and pass on to multiple other (particularly but not exclusively female) doctors .

Send us a text

What a joy to be back talking to Ed Pooley again, this time about the wonderful Counselling for Toads.   We talk about anthropomorphised animals as a safe way to explore feelings, transactional analysis, the role of therapy and so much more.

follow Ed on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dr_edwardpooley

His brilliant facebook community can be found here for many live (and on demand) videos around human communication can be found here
https://www.facebook.com/groups/237884610488751


Ed also recommended:
Scripts People Live by Claude Steiner
The Games People Play by Eric Berne

For more about the Drama Triangle I especially like this short youtube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovrVv_RlCMw

Send us a text

Bolsover GP Dr Selina Flinders joins Tara this week to talk about Sir Michael Marmot's brilliant The Health Gap. We talk about health inequalities, the effect of the pandemic and how much more relevant this book sadly is in our post-Covid world. We go on to talk about poverty, intergenerational medicine, the role of the GP as a listener and how the Beveridge report remains just as relevant 80 years later.

This is such an important book, it's also readable, accessible and thought provoking without being hard work or boring.  It's relevant to anyone working in healthcare and to be honest we think it's relevant to anyone who is interested in anything.

We also talked about Julian Tudor-Hart's Inverse Care Law
If you want a reminder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5zvzKcFHj8

Selina also recommended Kristin Hannah's novel The Four Winds  and how the themes in that fit with everything Marmot has to say. We also mentioned Cecil Helman's classic book The Suburban Shaman

Send us a text

Joining me today on the podcast is forensic psychiatrist Gill Patterson and we are talking about The Panopticon by Jenny Fagan.  This is an absolutely brilliant book which I read in a day on holiday. There are many themes which are quite dark, quite thought provoking and I think Anais, the central character, will stay with me for a very very long time.
 
Gill and I talk about forensic services,  especially forensic services for women. We talk about adverse life experiences we talk about normal responses to abnormal situations, we talk about the care system, we talk about connecting with young people and about seeing people holistically as their three dimensional selves. The Panopticon is a brilliant brilliant novel which I would really really recommend that you read and I thoroughly enjoyed talking to Gill about it today.

Send us a text

Paediatrician Natalie Francis and I had a great time discussing Jo Browning-Wroe's wonderful novel A Terrible Kindness. We talk about stigma, PTSD, defence mechanisms, love, jealousy, homophobia and so much more. Find Natalie on twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/natalie_francis

This novel starts with the story of a young embalmer who travels to Aberfan, following the call to attend to assist with the rescue and preparation of the bodies of children after the disaster.  Jo Browning-Wroe's article in the Nw Statesman here https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2016/10/unsung-heroes-aberfan is an introduction and background to the work they did and what William may have experienced.

This is a sensational debut novel but one which did have me weeping in places

Send us a text

A very very special episode this week as Nicola Davis and I explore our best bits from the incredible dotMD festival in Galway which we attended this weekend.  This episode was recorded live at dotMD after a phenomenal 2 days of listening, thinking, reflecting, dancing and eating.

Follow Nicola on twitter: https://twitter.com/drnicoladavis

The festival website is here http://dotmd.ie (sign up to get information about when they release tickets for 2023) their twitter feed is here: https://twitter.com/DotMDConf

We discussed many wonderful people and their talks and books, sorry to anyone we have missed mentioning by name here, we only had 33 minutes but we could have talked for hours!!!



Here's our combined post conference reading list (to be honest we had to hold back but this is the list we discuss in the episode):

Letter to a Young Female Physician  by Suzanne Koven (Tara has recorded a podcast episode with her which will be coming up very soon too!) https://twitter.com/suzannekovenmd and her website http://suzannekoven.com/book/

Understanding the path to mastery by Roger Kneebone. He also has a wonderful related podcast called "Countercurrent" which can be found here https://rogerkneebone.libsyn.com/

A Life in Trauma  by Chris Luke  https://twitter.com/DrChrisLukeCork

After the Storm by Emma Jane Unsworth https://twitter.com/emjaneunsworth

Dr Quin, Medicine Man  by John Quin https://twitter.com/jdmquin

How not to be a Doctor by John Launer https://johnlauner.com/ and https://twitter.com/JohnLauner

Conversations Inviting Change has a website here where you can learn more about this brilliant model and sign up for courses https://www.conversationsinvitingchange.com/

Monica Lalanda was the incredible artist in residence her cartons can be seen on the dotMD social media pages, follow her here https://twitter.com/mlalanda

Vital Signs - Martin Dyer due out later in the year which contains this wonderful poem Ter Conatus by Bernard O'Donoghue https://poetryarchive.org/poem/ter-conatus/

Benji Waterhouse's book will be out in 2023 and is very much on my list his website is here so you can keep a look out for it when it's released https://www.benjiwaterstones.com/about

Send us a text

This week I'm joined by Ralph Emmerson, a GP, GP trainer and self confessed "Shackleton nerd" to talk about Alfred Lansing's 1950s record of the ill fated expedition to the pole led by Shackleton Endurance. It's a story that transcends time and has so much to offer when you reflect on the attributes of leadership that we need in crisis.  When we reflect on the Covid 19 pandemic, the loss of the traditional roles and rules and the ethics and morality of "doing what seems right in the circumstances" and how simply surviving is often the greatest miracle this book really comes into its own.  It's an adventure story, there's an ending we perhaps all know already but undoubtedly there's a human miracle story in there  for us all.

Send us a text

TRIGGER WARNING: early in the episode we talk about a termination for medical reasons of a much wanted pregnancy and there is discussion of  another bereavement.

Susan Mathew and I discuss Mo Gawdat's Solve for Happy  and explore the happiness equation.  Among other things we explore whether the right self help book at the wrong time can be a thing, lessons we have both learned from this book and whether recommending bibliotherapy books to patients is something we should be doing more often.

We talk about totems, happy lists, time out and little strategies we can implement in our day to day lives to boost happiness


Susan also refers to the brilliant book The Chimp Paradox by Steve Peters which can be found here https://chimpmanagement.com/books-by-professor-steve-peters/the-chimp-paradox/

Send us a text

Brilliant to be joined again by Naren Senthil Nathan this time to talk about Lucy Kellaway's wonderful story of " how I changed by job, my home, my husband and my hair".  We talk about life stages, expectations, the power of education and the fact that retiring at 60 does not work well with the life expectancy and lifestyles of the 21 century.

As a GP trainer I found the ideas around "unlearning" old career habits before being able to learn new skills a really powerful concept.

Send us a text

John Boyne's novel The Heart's Invisible Furies has one of the most powerful opening chapters of anything I've ever read. It has stayed with me and is an extract I've used in teaching a variety of times always with excellent results.  It was a joy to find someone else who'd loved the book too in the form of Bedside Reading's first pharmacist guest, Kerry Parry https://twitter.com/kerryparry8

We talk about snapshots into peoples lives, the changes of the 20th and 21st centuries, the AIDS crisis, shame, stigma and so much more.

Send us a text

What a treat this week to welcome author and retired GP Malcolm Alexander to Beside Reading to talk about his wonderful book Close to where the heart gives out  which is one of my top reads of 2022 so far.

We talk about his experiences as a remote and rural GP, the ultimate arch nemesis that was a pair of Wrigley's forceps, the process of writing, doctors as patient, confidentiality and so much more

Send us a text

I'm delighted to be joined by London GP and podcast fanatic James Thambirajah to discuss Dean Burnett's book Psychological.  James and I explore the importance of being able to explain complex medical concepts in lay language and think about the power of bibliography to help patients and especially relatives to gain an understanding of mental illness.

I'm not sure that GPs are the natural designed audience for this book but that doesn't mean we didn't both gain a lot from it and it's certainly one I'll be adding to my list of resources for patients and relatives.

Send us a text

What a treat to be joined by a  member of #medtwitter royalty. Ben Lovell and I had such a great discussion starting from Kristen Johnston's memoir Guts.  We talk  about whether being nosy is a prerequisite for being a good doctor (yes), how we treat addicts in the NHS (often badly), why as HCPs working in a visibly flawed system we are so conditioned to be defensive of the NHS even when it is failing.

This book is a fantastic, raw and open insight into the lies people tell themselves when they are functioning addicts, what it might take to mean they may make a decision to change (top tip, it's not what doctors say to them) and a observational portrait of the NHS from the perspective of an American. It is funny, tough and insightful and I can guarantee reading it will make you a better clincian

Send us a text

Welcome back and welcome to Season 2. It is o exciting to have you back listening to us. I absolutely loved recording this episode with Emma Pickett IBCLC talking about Room by Emma Donoghue.  We talk about attachment, infant feeding, breastfeeding older children, toddler manners and more. If you want to follow Emma on Twitter find her here: https://twitter.com/makesmilk

SOME USEFUL RESOURCES

Association of Breastfeeding Mothers
https://abm.me.uk/

GP Infant Feeding Network
https://gpifn.org.uk/

Breastfeeding for Doctors
https://www.paediatricfoam.com/2018/09/breastfeeding-for-doctors-101-part-1/

Breastfeeding Helpline
https://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/

We offer breastfeeding support on the phone, every day of the year, 9.30am to 9.30pm. Call Charges to all helplines apply. Calls to 0300 numbers cost no more than calls to UK numbers starting 01 and 02 and will be part of any inclusive minutes that apply to your provider and call package.

National Breastfeeding Helpline: 0300 100 0212
The National Breastfeeding Helpline is a helpline run in collaboration with the Breastfeeding Network (BfN) and the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (ABM). All the volunteers answering calls are mums who have breastfed, and all have received extensive training in breastfeeding support. Calls are diverted to the next available ABM or BfN volunteer. The Helpline is funded by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and the Scottish Government.

Support is also available in Welsh and Polish via the National Breastfeeding Helpline – call 0300 100 0212 and press 1 for Welsh and 2 for Polish.

Discount on Emma's new book: Supporting Breastfeeding Past the First Six Months and Beyond  if you use this link direct from the publisher
https://uk.jkp.com/products/supporting-breastfeeding-past-the-first-six-months-and-beyond?_pos=1&_sid=26bd70c70&_ss=r
and use BSREP15% for 15% off the publisher's price

Send us a text

Welcome to Season 7 !!!!!  I am so excited to launch this new season with an episode which is all about the Women's Prize shortlist.

 I'm delighted to welcome book-tuber Sarah Cubitt to Bedside Reading.  Sarah has a wonderful YouTube book channel  called Your True Shelf.   https://www.youtube.com/c/yourtrueshelf

Sarah and I are talking about the 6 books which have made this year's Women's Prize shortlist. The prize winner is announced on  June 13th so if you are listening today, 4th June when it comes out you have nine days to get your way through the shortlist or perhaps to pick one of the ones that we discuss to read before the prize is announced and see if we were right in terms of the book that we would both most like to win. Interestingly we both picked the same one! Are we in line with the judges? who knows, we might need to wait to find out. It's been a real joy talking to Sarah and it's been really good fun to read books which have come off a shortlist and really to be thinking about their merits compared one with another.

The books on the shortlist are:

Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshananthan
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy
Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville
River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure
The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright

You can buy them all (and support my favourite bookshop Scarthin Books) here https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/scarthinbooks

Sarah also recommended https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/09/stay-with-me-by-ayobami-adebayo-review and https://www.thebibliophilegirluk.com/2018/05/big-bones-by-laura-dockrill/ both written by judges for this year's prize.

Send us a text

It's the end of series 1 and today's episode is a flipped one where Ed Pooley is interviewing me about Malcolm Gladwell's talking to strangers. This audio recording was originally a videocast as part of Ed's phenomenal Facebook educational group "Difficult Conversations: Understanding Communication & Psychology in Health" which can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/237884610488751

Ed and I talk about connection, the TV show Friends, historical events, assumptions, fallacies and what it is to be human.

This conversation was the final push I needed to start Bedside Reading and it is so lovely to be able to share this with you, my listeners as we close the first series for a little Easter Break

Send us a text

Join Tara and Kate Smith, A GP in Oxfordshire as we talk about the book that changed  Kate's career:  Stuart a Life Backwards by Alexander Masters

If you are interested in Homelessness Kate has kindly drawn up a huge list of resources for further reading/watching

Fiction

Even the Dogs by Jon Macgregor

How to find a home by Mahsuda Snaith

Biography

Four Feet Under by Tamsen Courtenay

Autobiography

Pavement for my pillow by Chris Kitch

From the Inside: Life in a Women’s Prison- by the Charity Worker who should never have been there by Ruth Wyner

Down and Out in London and Paris, by George Orwell

Writing projects

We are here – Stories if Home, Place and Belonging ( www.homelesswriting.org )

www.haveawordwithyourself.co.uk   

www.outofhome.org.uk (photography project employing homeless photographers to document their experience during Lockdown)

www.thepavement.org.uk

homeless organisations (those mentioned in the book specifically)

https://wintercomfort.org.uk

Willow Walk Cambridge | Help for people who are homeless (riverside.org.uk)

Emmaus UK | the charity working to end homelessness

Muscular Dystrophy

Muscular Dystrophy UK | Muscular Dystrophy UK

Send us a text

Tara was excited this week to talk to another Tara who loves books almost as much as she does! Tara McCormack is an Emergency Department Nurse in Sydney and part of the https://dontforgetthebubbles.com community.

Follow Tara McC on twitter https://twitter.com/codebluenursey

We discovered our shared enjoyment of this book as part of an online book group and there's literally so much to talk about. We talked about carers, about narratives, effective communication and so much more.  Some resources below may help if you want to know more.

https://carers.org/about-caring/about-young-carers

https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/what-we-do/our-work/supporting-young-carers

https://dontforgetthebubbles.com/communicating-clearly/

Send us a text

 In honour of world poetry day on 21st March, in a slight change to the format this week I'm delighted to welcome Dr Vicky Thomas (aka @LittleDoctorVic  on Twitter) to talk about some of her poems, published and unpublished. We talk about writing as therapy, about clinical supervision and how it's almost impossible to be a doctor and not be political.

Some of Vicky's poems are published in the NHS anthology These are the hands  https://www.poetrybooks.co.uk/products/these-are-the-hands and in Night Feeds and Morning Songs  which was discussed on this podcast back in December 2021.

Send us a text

Another pandemic, 104 years before I met Jenny Slough to talk about it but the parallels with 1918 Dublin and 2020/21 London are uncannily familiar.  We talk about Emma Donoghue's brilliant Novel The Pull of the Stars and find shared comfort in remembering that pandemics whilst usually once in a lifetime are events which have happened before and history allows us to start to feel reassured there will be an after.

Jenny's own experiences of redeployment which we touch on in this episode are beautifully and thoughtfully explored here  in an NHS living well podcast:  https://keepingwellncl.nhs.uk/podcast/in-conversation-with-jenny-family-liaison/

Send us a text

It's International Women's day, in a special episode to mark the occasion catch Tara talking to GP Registrar Eleanor Love about Invisible Women by Caroline Criado-Perez

We talk about the gender data gap and the possible impact on health outcomes as well as discrimination (overt and indirect), sexism, feminism and how recognising and acting on gender bias and moving away from the "default male" actually makes the world fairer for everyone.

Send us a text

What a treat it was to talk to Ani Gavrilovic about what must be one of the most moving, and thought provoking novels I have ever read.  Maylis de Kerangal's Mend the Living is the story of 24 hours in the heart of 19 year old Simon Limbeau. It is a story of death and life, of organ transplants and human stories, of a day from many different perspectives.  It is a story of love and hope as well as loss and darkness.

Organ Donation UK
https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/

https://orgamites.com/ this is a brilliant resource for assisting with conversations with primary school aged children about organ donation

Send us a text

Join Tara this week as she talks to Mahima Chandrasekar about the powerful love story of the NHS and its neonatal care that is Francesca Segal's phenomenal memoir Mothership.

We talk about the alien spaceship world of the NICU, how if we are scared as doctors it must be terrifying as a parent. We think about language, how relatives are horribly diminished is we call them "mum" rather than their real names. We think about camaraderie, support networks, love, compassion, hope and wonder.

This is a stunning book. Our first discussion/review was published as a DFTB book review in summer 2021: https://dontforgetthebubbles.com/mother-ship-by-francesca-segal/

We had so much more to say about it this time round!!!  It is a book full of life, love, hope, fear and one which has undoubtedly changed both our practice significantly and positively forever.

Francesca Segal has her own podcast which is all about prematurity and can be found here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/mother-ship-a-podcast-about-prematurity/id1500789844

Send us a text

It's Valentines Day this week and in celebration we have a love story on the podcast today. This isn't a traditional schmaltzy love story though, The Salt Path is a stunning love letter, the record of a long walk and features the sort of love story most of us will never be lucky enough to experience. Tara is joined by Pim Dahan to talk about love, homelessness, the power of nature and the importance of slowing down.

When Raynor Winn and her husband became homeless and he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, they packed their rucksacks and began walking the South West Coast Path. She tells her extraordinary story of prejudice, hidden communities and finding home



RESOURCES FROM TODAY'S EPISODE

Rural Homelessness
https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/rural-england-homeless-problem-hidden/
Raynor Winn writing in the Big Issue about rural homelessness

Shelter
https://www.shelter.org.uk/

NHS England Guidance on Social Prescribing
https://www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/social-prescribing/

Men's Sheds
https://menssheds.org.uk/

Grounding Techniques
https://togetherinmind.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/TSC-Posters_Grounding-Techniques.pdf

Send us a text

Join Tara George and Trisha Cantley as they talk about Ben Watt's memoir Patient. Yes it is that Ben Watt from "Everything But The Girl".  This is the at times terrifying story of a mystery illness which results in a young man having a near death experience and a prolonged and terrifying hospital stay.  We talk about our experiences of hospitals as doctors rather than patients, about the vulnerability of being ill, the effect of illness on relationships, what hospitals are good at and what they aren't.  We also thought a lot about the value of book clubs (Trisha is involved with the wonderful #geribookclub on twitter) and how we read - "real" books vs e-books vs audible and the pros and cons of all of these. 

Send us a text

It's a first today and that is my first medical student guest on the podcast!! A huge welcome to Omar Al-Rubaie,  a third year medical student at the University Of Sheffield who is here to talk about The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.  It's a first also because this is the first Douglas Adams I've ever read. I'd been aware of Hitchhiker's Guide for a very long time and I had never read it. I confess, I had never wanted to read it and as I was reading it in preparation for the podcast I was thinking "oh my goodness. What have I done". I will say I don't think I'm the target audience for the book and I didn't really get it. 

You may be relieved to discover that after a conversation with Omar I've started to see that there is so much more in the book than I was getting out of first reading. And I suppose that's one of those reasons why reading books and talking about them is so enormously valuable to get the most out of them.  Will I be going on to read the sequel? Pretty unlikely! Did I really enjoy my conversation with Omar? Oh my goodness Yes!!  Whether you are a fan of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, somebody who loathes the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy or somebody who listens to the podcast and has absolutely no idea what we're talking about so far, I hope you're going to enjoy this conversation.

Send us a text

Join Tara as she talks to Ripon Ahmed about Sunjeev Sahota's phenomenal novel "The Year of the Runaways".   This is a wonderful book and we had such a brilliant discussion about migration, generational changes, aspiration, survival, access to healthcare, attitudes to mental illness, homelessness, families, caste, class and discrimination among many many other things.  The Year of the Runaways is a superb exploration of experiences which are all too real for some of our most vulnerable patients.

There are a couple of great interviews with the author about the book here:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/dec/12/sunjeeva-sahota-books-interview-the-year-of-the-runaways

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08ktmzc

Send us a text

This episode Tara is talking to Emma Cunliffe a locum civilian medical practitioner for the MOD and long standing Out of Hours GP about Fredrick Backman's book A Man Called Ove.  They talk about unexpected friendships, grumpy old men, grief and how life experiences  shape us in unimaginable ways.

This book does explore suicidal thoughts and attempts and whilst framed in a lighthearted way it is important we don't trivialise the topic or dismiss the topic.

If you are having thoughts of ending your own life, please try to reach out to someone

Samaritans run a 24hr helpline:

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

Campaign to end loneliness:

https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org

Age UK

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/get-involved/brighter/

For younger people

https://www.papyrus-uk.org

Send us a text

This week Tara is talking to Catriona Davis a remote and rural GP on Islay about Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet.  We explore themes around relationships, bereavement, child bereavement in particular, plagues and getting lost in stories.

Some resources you may find helpful

Child Bereavement UK

Helpline 0800 028 8840

https://www.childbereavementuk.org

RCGP Child Bereavement Guidelines
https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/blog/index.php?entryid=48

SANDS – the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society

https://www.sands.org.uk

The Lullaby Trust – specifically relating to SIDS

https://www.lullabytrust.org.uk


SIMBA
https://www.simbacharity.org.uk/

Held in our Hearts
https://heldinourhearts.org.uk/

Send us a text

Tara speaks to Jo Stewart, a GP in Western Australia about James Rhodes’ book Instrumental. We talk about Adverse Childhood Experiences, Attachment, language, safeguarding and the power of holding space. 

Find out more about James Rhodes here https://www.jamesrhodes.tv

**TRIGGER WARNING**:
This is a very dark book in places and in the discussion we talk about the catastrophic abuse Rhodes suffered at the hands of a trusted adult. This might not be an episode for everyone and please don’t listen in the car with your kids listening too.

 
Spotify Playlist as recommended by James Rhodes to accompany the book https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5mmEdd2fEpEiejq4lg2jZE

RESOURCES JO AND TARA THINK MIGHT BE USEFUL

• The abetternhs blog written by Jonathon Tomlinson is incredible.  This specific post is well worth reading: https://abetternhs.net/2017/10/15/we-need-to-talk-about-trauma/ though the whole blog is totally  brilliant

• Calculate ACE scores and find out more about Adverse Childhood Experiences here: https://acestoohigh.com

• I cannot recommend the book The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van der Kolk enough on the subject of the effect of trauma

• Finally, the amazing novel A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara 

Send us a text

This week Tara is talking to Charlotte Squires, digital media editor for the British Geriatric Society and the organiser of the wonderful #geribookclub on twitter about Richard Osman's debut "The Thursday Murder Club".

They discuss the evolution of relationships, putting older people front and centre in a novel, the value of role models and why #bemorejoyce should be trending ...

Interestingly after we'd recorded the episode, and talked about Chris and his relationship with food, but before the episode was released, this brilliant Guardian interview with Richard Osman came out and perhaps explains why and how he wrote so effectively about Chris' relationship with food which we'd picked up in our chat: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/dec/26/richard-osman-reveals-difficult-journey-with-food-addiction?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

For more resources around eating disorders the national charity Beat is always great https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/

Send us a text

Tara talks to Nicola Davis about Night Feeds and Morning Songs  a glorious collection of poems about motherhood (collected and curated by Ana Sampson who was Tara's guest on 7th December for the Christmas shopping episode)

The talk about the romanticised idyll of motherhood vs the reality, juggling multiple roles, the value of good perinatal care and the fabulous accessibility of poetry when you have a very short attention span.

Apologies that there are some very funny noises in the edit here, we decided the conversation was too good to throw the recording away but do acknowledge it's not up to the usual bedside reading clarity standards.

RESOURCES

RCGP perinatal mental health toolkit:
https://www.rcgp.org.uk/clinical-and-research/resources/toolkits/perinatal-mental-health-toolkit.aspx

RCPsych Perinatal Resources
https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mental-health

Send us a text

This week Tara talks to Zuhriya Muazu a Doncaster GP about Laurie Frankel's "The Atlas of Love". They talking about being good enough,  what families look like in the modern world and how much human beings have the capacity for love and change.

Send us a text

This episode Tara talks to Rema Jyothirmayi about When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. They talk about doctors as patients, the importance of role models, making choices for yourself and choices for others and how different palliative care seems to be in the US compared to the UK.

Make yourself a cup of tea and sit down for a reflective listen

Send us a text

Today Tara and Ana Sampson explore some great ideas for books for everyone’s Christmas list. We talk about motherhood, the secret world of the hospital, pretentious gifts, and the power of nature among many other relevant topics.

Find Ana @anabooks on Instagram and twitter or her website https://www.anasampson.co.uk 
Her stunning recent anthology “Night Feeds and Morning Songs” is well worth a read too (and look out for a guest discussing that on this podcast in a few weeks' time)

Ana’s Top 5 for your Christmas List

The Republic of Motherhood – Liz Berry
Performance of the title poem here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDyvUDZPyL0

Nightbitch – Rachel Yoder

Can you hear me? – Jake Jones

Histories – Sam Guglani

Wintering – Katherine May

Other Books we talked about

Ophelia Swam – Kelley Swain
After the storm – Emma Jane Unsworth
Larchfield – Polly Clarke
I am not your Babymother – Candice Braithwaite
I love you but I have Chosen Darkness - Claire Vaye Watkins

 
Other more medical resources

RCGP Perinatal Mental Health Toolkit
https://www.rcgp.org.uk/clinical-and-research/resources/toolkits/perinatal-mental-health-toolkit.aspx

RCOG response to the MBRACE report
https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/news/rcog-responds-to-latest-mbrrace-uk-maternal-report/

Send us a text

In this episode Tara talks to Henry Goldstein, adolescent physician and one of the founders of the incredible paediatric FOAMed organisation Don't Forget the Bubbles about Tim Winton's thought provoking and absorbing novel Cloudstreet.

They talk about the fact that reading fiction can only ever improve your skills as a clinician, the power of narrative, the value of looking at life from different perspectives and how much the world has changed since the 1950s and what a phenomenal journey this means our older patients have taken.

 Henry is a founder and director of https://dontforgetthebubbles.com a website with a wealth of child and adolescent heath resources including this brilliant article about anorexia nervosa, a subject touched on in the discussion today https://dontforgetthebubbles.com/anorexia-nervosa/

Follow Henry on Twitter here https://twitter.com/henrygoldstein

Send us a text

It's an absolute joy today to welcome Dr Adaira Landry and Dr Resa Lewiss to Bedside Reading. They have written an absolutely phenomenal book which is called Microskills: small actions big impact. The tagline for the book is "buy this book on Friday be better at your job on Monday" and I think that this claim really really does live up to the hype.

This is a brilliantly accessible book. It is so practical. It is so readable. It has the potential to change anyone's work life and possibly even their home life as well. I've been thinking about who I want to recommend it to: I can't imagine anybody that wouldn't really benefit from it. I'm certainly going to be buying it for my new gp registrars and I do think if you've got somebody in your life who is about to start their career, maybe somebody who's just passed their finals because this episode is going out in the UK  just at the time that people are getting their results and people are starting to think about starting their Foundation Program. This could be an absolutely fantastic book for those people to be thinking about how they can make the most of themselves keep themselves safe keep themselves well read the room understand the organisational culture and really get the most out of their life. It's a fabulous book I loved talking to Adaira and Resa and I really hope you'll enjoy listening to our conversation.

Find the authors on Twitter here
https://twitter.com/AdairaLandryMD
https://twitter.com/ResaELewiss

You might also enjoy Resa's podcast https://www.thevisiblevoicespodcast.com/

Send us a text

In this episode Tara talks to Naren Senthil Nathan about Gareth Thomas' Memoir "Stronger".  They discuss  whether you need to be a sports fan to enjoy a sporting memoir (not for this book!), stigma, ignorance, HIV education and good communication

Send us a text

In this launch episode Tara talks to Liz Herrieven about Matthew Dicks' novel "Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend".  They discuss imaginary friends, what we need vs what others think we need, getting "stuck", getting unstuck and the importance of being loved.

Liz also shared the wonderful mnemonic TEACH for improving communication when talking to children with LD and autism:

T - Time (you may well need extra time)

E - Environment (maybe somewhere quiet, reduce stimulation, noise and fear)

A - Attitude (avoiding diagnostic overshadowing, no assumptions)

C - Communication (visual clues, social stories)

H - Help (what help do we need, what help do they need, hospital passports, recognise carer's expertise)

Send us a text

welcome to bedside reading, I can't wait to start sharing books and ideas with you, the podcast goes live on Tuesday 16th November, here's a tiny taster to whet your appetite