This is Going to Hurt - starts 8th Feb

[ouch321]

I loved the book of this by Adam Kay. I know others weren't so keen.
BBC has dramatised this and starts in early Feb. Just a heads up for others who liked the book.

@Hdkatznahtw125sgh

Also, there is a very dark humour that we as NHS staff have. I find it very interesting that members of the public are considering that this might be misogynistic. Clearly we have thick skins in the NHS as I never even noticed.

Personally i think gallows humour as a coping mechanism to get through the days when confronted with high stress, challenging and emotional situations with colleagues is one thing, writing about it for consumption by the public and profiting off of the back of it is another. There are plenty of books written by healthcare staff, male and female, that highlight the issues and shows them as human (ie sometimes judgemental, making mistakes etc) without reading like his books do. I don't agree either with a PP that his disgusting songs are fine as they're pArOdY.

@Thymeout

Re the lyrics of Northern Birds. It is a parody. Kay and his co-writer were big fans of Tom Lehrer, a Harvard maths professor, who diversified into writing satirical comedy songs in the style of various popular music genres. Highly recommended.

TL sings about the charms of Mexico as a tourist destination and enthuses about bull-fighting - 'I haven't had so much fun since my brother's dog Rover...../Got run over....
Rover was killed by a Pontiac. It was done with such artistry and skill that the driver was awarded both ears and the tail.' Obviously he is not being serious when he suggests his song should be used by the Mexican tourist board. He also satirises nuclear Armageddon, the American South and hunting as a recreation. Oh and mother love. The story of Oedipus Rex ....but he luuuuved his mother.

I don't know the context of Kay's song but I know the inspiration, which Kay has explained. I can't help feeling that it was disingenuous not to have mentioned it. It's a parody. You're not meant to take it literally.

Oh, well, that’s ok then if it’s a PARODY! People. can spew any type of harmful, offensive and frankly cruel judgements on others under the guise of PARODY! Thanks so much for enlightening me @Thymeout Honestly silly me, with my dreadful reading comprehension would never have understood such a thing!

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I cried and cried at the end of the book. It’s an honest account of someone who quit a job he would have genuinely thrived in if he had had more support. He’s a loss to the medical profession- that doesn’t mean you have to like him. He’s searingly honest with his words.

@AlandAnna

I cried and cried at the end of the book. It’s an honest account of someone who quit a job he would have genuinely thrived in if he had had more support. He’s a loss to the medical profession- that doesn’t mean you have to like him. He’s searingly honest with his words.

@AlandAnna I genuinely cannot see how someone so lacking in compassion and capable of such dire negligence (e.g the taking the phone call) could such a loss to the medical profession. More like good riddance

@airbalonz

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One of the comments in the replies really nails it for me:

As a friend noted - a ‘comedy’ drama about a white, male obstetrician is inevitably going to lead to jokes about either pregnant women or midwives, or both - either way it’s punching down. Also very poor timing in light of the news. It’s just not funny.

Its tone deaf. Women should be laughed at. We shouldn't expect more from healthcare, because thats just the reality of the NHS etc etc.

Its making a scandal into comic entertainment which also serves to further dehumanise patients in the process.

I have no idea why it was commissioned.

Absolutely I agree that the NHS is awful for staffing - I’m horrified that there’s no senior Doctors on wards at night and that juniors are often left covering multiple wards. It needs a radical overhaul but I don’t know what the answers are.

More Uni places? Less emphasis on those stupid personality assessments they do (cos let’s face it, who’s actually met a not arrogant AF Consultant before?!) yet they make it through.

More money to hire staff and higher wages are the obvious ones.

@RedToothBrush I’m so glad someone else agrees with me.

I know lets make a comedy about male police officers dealing with domestic violence and lets have a laugh at all the stupid women who keep going back to their partners and how utterly futile it is and thats what makes our job impossible. We should be out finding real criminals instead...

(lead balloon)

@airbalonz - "......Some misogynists marry women."

I also had PE almost missed.

Blinding headache for days, nothing took the edge off, dizzy, palpitations, seeing stars.

Three times they told me not to come to labour ward.

As it was my third baby, I decided to go in because I was adamant something was wrong.

They were so angry I’d come in, rude and belligerent. Fortunately my Consultant was on ward that night and came straight to see me, my BP was through the roof, my other obs and the immediate tests they run were scary.

I was kept in for a week and then went into labour as I was 38 weeks when I’d gone in.

We have multiple reports stating that healthcare for women is not good enough and there have been institutional level failings which have resukted in deaths. This has been in part facilitated by cover up culture and outright sexism.

But hell, lets commission a tv program about how funny this is from the point of view of male overworked staff because y'know its realistic and shucks what can we do about it.

Over and over again many have posted this is a reflection on how work can be or was in the wards at that time

At times you have to see the amusing side it’s not laughing at patients it’s the ridiculous nature of work at times

And yes we are not always feeling empathetic to such ridiculous self indulgent requests or actions from patients or their families but we do our jobs

@OhWhyNot

Over and over again many have posted this is a reflection on how work can be or was in the wards at that time

At times you have to see the amusing side it’s not laughing at patients it’s the ridiculous nature of work at times

And yes we are not always feeling empathetic to such ridiculous self indulgent requests or actions from patients or their families but we do our jobs

Lets laugh about it as if its in the past.

Its not. We know its not.

We have government reports saying its not. We have government reports saying there has been an historic wholesale abuse and failure to look after women which has resulted in long term trauma for women.

Good giggle fodder for tv though.

My mum had my eldest brother in 1950 and she said that the ' care' she received was dreadful , 'call the midwife ' it certainly wasn't
Left with her feet in stirrups for hours on her own. Told to stop moaning !! Dads not allowed to be there.
It has improved a bit since then , but obviously more needs to be done still and things do go wrong , sadly
The covering up things didn't surprise me either though, they all do it I bet.

I enjoyed his book TIGTH in a LOL entertaining read sort of way. We adore his 2 children's books in our house, they are absolutely fabulous and being read and re-read by the kids.

I watched the first scene of the TV series and instantly didn't like it. I felt the woman was completely 'othered' (sorry to use such a cliche term). I found it uncomfortable how he approached the woman in labour and suggested to look at how dilated she was - it also cam cross as xenophobic and patronising when the pregnant woman said 'is this normal' and he just mumbled something stupid. Didn't like the actor. I might give it another go but the tone pissed me off from the beginning.

I saw AK live in London and thought it was ok, not brilliant but ok.

@RedToothBrush

We have multiple reports stating that healthcare for women is not good enough and there have been institutional level failings which have resukted in deaths. This has been in part facilitated by cover up culture and outright sexism.

But hell, lets commission a tv program about how funny this is from the point of view of male overworked staff because y'know its realistic and shucks what can we do about it.

This in absolute spades.

@RedToothBrush
Totally agree. It’s infuriating and so sad

Its making a scandal into comic entertainment which also serves to further dehumanise patients in the process.I have no idea why it was commissioned.

It's the BBC, woke unless it's about vagina people who give birth.

North Staffs: The Musical
Coming to a theatre new year soon.

GUARDIAN: 5*
TIMES: 4*
TELEGRAPH: 3*

'A hilarious incite into the gallows humour of staff working under poor management' The Daily Mail

We will ignore the bits about bereavement, cruelty, long term trauma, loss of dignity, ruined careers of whistleblowers cos haha, and its all in the past.

Too soon? Inappropriate? Anything fair game for comedy at any time, without the need for due consideration?

This guy actually had patients. You know real ones...

The commissioning of this programme was, arguably a badly timed an act of misogyny in its own right. Then there's the script writing converted from the book. And then the artistic direction of the script.

But nope. 'Realistic and funny' . And we can't call it misogynistic because there are no male patients in it.

Ok then...

@the80sweregreat

My mum had my eldest brother in 1950 and she said that the ' care' she received was dreadful , 'call the midwife ' it certainly wasn't Left with her feet in stirrups for hours on her own. Told to stop moaning !! Dads not allowed to be there. It has improved a bit since then , but obviously more needs to be done still and things do go wrong , sadly The covering up things didn't surprise me either though, they all do it I bet.

This really irks me too, 80s. It's like a sanitised re-writing of history as a PR exercise for the medical profession. Doctors like Dr Patronising, with the special compassionate expression he uses when gently questioning his patients and finding out how they really feel must have been vanishingly rare in comparison with the brisk, paternalistic, patronising men who told women to buck up and soldier on, while writing notes and barely looking at them. (Not saying they were all like that, but it was the prevailing attitude of the time. They treated cases not people.)

Same attitude, different era with TIGTH

Why does a bloke who jumped ship as he had chosen the wrong professions and wasn't able to handle being a doctor get to the tell women's birth stories?

@KiteInColoured and make a further bloody financial profit from it as well!

Where is the gritty BBC drama exploring the appalling treatment of multiple women who have given birth at a scandal hit maternity hospital from their perspective? Together with consultations with various charities and pressure groups with a known interest.

Nope. Bloke does funny skit about how hard it was working with these tiresome women giving birth badly.

A kick to the teeth is good for some
A kiss with a fist is better then none
A kiss with a fist is better then none

Lovely lyrics in episode 1

Lots of sexist referencing to women's blood from down below all told from the POV of a gay doc. Charming.

It is really, really sexist, everything about it is about male power, script, acting and cinematography. Awful.