Category: Clinical stories

The weather forecast was for fine, sunny weather so I set off for a walk that included a small hill. It was on the way down that I came a cropper. Perhaps I simply wasn’t looking where I was going, but one minute I was strolling along without a care in the world, the next […]

Annie Arnell had known that she was pregnant for at least three months before she plucked up courage to attend the Antenatal Clinic. She knew she should have gone sooner but had a morbid fear of hospitals. She’d had her appendix out as a child and now, even the smell of antiseptic was enough to […]

Don’s heart sank when he saw the letter sitting on his desk. The envelope was of high quality, it bore a first class stamp and had a London postmark. In his experience such letters rarely brought good news. With great reluctance he opened the envelope. The note paper was thick and expensive, certainly not the sort […]

Dr Julie Smith was coming to the end of a busy family planning clinic. It had been a long day and she tired. She had discussed the merits of contraceptive pills, caps, condoms, injections, implants and coils so frequently that she feared her disenchantment with the work might become apparent to her patients, or clients […]

Scene An emergency department 50 years ago. Whilst working nervously in casualty at the City General Hospital during my first week as a doctor, I’d been completely unaware of the time but it was already one in the morning; I was tired and hungry. Seven long hours had passed since I last had anything decent […]

Utterly dejected, I collapsed into the dilapidated armchair in the corner of the room, my head in my hands, tears in my eyes, my confidence shattered. I was distraught; my mood one of total wretchedness and despair. I felt sick, my mouth was dry and my hands trembled. It was four in the morning and […]