The Bitter Pill - Doctor X

The Bitter Pill: An Insider’s Shocking Exposé of the Irish Health System - Doctor X
2007, paperback

In The Bitter Pill, Dr X decides to blow the whistle, no longer able to remain a silent witness after six years training and working within the Irish health service.
Using first-hand accounts, he examines a system wherein public patients are second-class citizens and describes:
• the dangers of the public-private healthcare divide for public patients the unchecked power of consultants, and its consequences
• the true state of hygiene in our hospitals, and why the recent audit doesn't reveal the true picture
• the incredible working hours of junior doctors, and the very real dangers to patients
• the negative effects of a 'who you know', not 'what you know', system of career advancement
• how bullying and racism are rife
• why whistleblowers remain few and far between, and why this needs to change - now.
What emerges is a cautionary tale of a system more concerned with protecting its vested interests than meeting patients' needs.
In The Bitter Pill Dr X also makes a passionate case for change, offering straightforward solutions that could bring about dramatic changes - if the will was there. This is an honest, controversial and, at times, shocking book.

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