Rachel Clarke

Rachel Clarke is a British physician specialising in palliative care for the National Health Service, author, journalist and activist.

Formerly a current affairs journalist, Clarke retrained to work as a doctor in 2009. From 2015 she had an active voice in the dispute in the United Kingdom between junior doctors and the government over their contractual conditions of work, appearing in multiple television debates and interviews. Her book about life as a junior doctor was published in 2017.

Biography

Clarke studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the University of Oxford and worked as a broadcast journalist prior to her career in medicine. She produced and directed current affairs documentaries focusing on subjects such as Al Qaeda, the Gulf War and the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, otherwise known as the Second Congo War. At the age of 29 she began a medical degree at Oxford,[1] graduating and beginning work as a junior doctor in 2009.[2]

Junior Doctor protests and activism

Clarke's activism began when the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, sought to impose a new contract upon junior doctors. She rose to prominence as a political activist and campaigner in her opposition to the contract.[3] She argued in print and on screen that imposition would irrevocably damage the NHS. In particular, she was concerned that doctors would be unable to maintain their compassion and empathy, the attributes that drew them in to the profession in the first place.[4][5][6] Clarke was interviewed several times during the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic in Spring 2020 and was a panelist on BBC Question Time on April 16.

Book

Her debut book Your Life in My Hands: A Junior Doctor's Story (ISBN 1786064510, OCLC 985323602) was published by Metro Books in July 2017.[7] The book covers her experiences working as a junior doctor on call, handling pain and trauma, NHS funding and the recruitment and retention of doctors and nurses, as well as her campaign against the UK Government's imposition of a contract on junior doctors. It was a Sunday Times best seller.[3][8][9]

Writing in The Guardian to offer her prescription for the health of the NHS to mark the organisation's 70th anniversary, Clarke singled out Magic string, saying, "Cheap as chips and priceless, magic string was created not for profit or personal gain – but simply because someone cared", adding, "Right now, the magic string that binds the NHS together has never been more threadbare".[10]

Her second book, 'Dear Life, a doctor's story of love and loss', exploring end-of-life care, was published by Little, Brown in January 2020. Robert MacFarlane described it as a remarkable book: 'tender, funny, brave, heartfelt, radiant with love and life.It brought me often to laughter and - several times - to tears. It sings with joy and kindness'.

References
  1. Marsh, Henry (9 July 2017). "Book review: Your Life in My Hands: A Junior Doctor's Story by Rachel Clarke". The Times.
  2. 7019426 General Medical Council Medical Register
  3. Turan, Cyan (13 July 2017). "I'm a junior doctor, and your life is in my hands". Red. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  4. Clarke, Rachel (10 October 2017). "I'm proud to be called a junior doctor. Titles are the least of our problems". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  5. "Articles by Rachel Clarke". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  6. "Articles by Rachel Clarke". The Independent. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  7. Hammond, Phil (29 July 2017). "Review: Your Life in My Hands: A Junior Doctor's Story by Rachel Clarke". The Times. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  8. Cain, Sian (3 August 2017). "Rachel Clarke: 'Right Mr Hunt, you're coming with me'". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  9. Hamilton, Chloe (18 July 2017). "'Every junior doctor knows another junior doctor who has either taken their own life or come very close'". I. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  10. Clarke, Rachel (21 June 2018). "Doctors' orders: writers from the medical world on how to cure the NHS". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 26 June 2018.

Further reading
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.