National Elf Service

Reviews / Votes

For those who do not know him, the author Prof Goddard is one of those highly irritating people who never give up making annoying observations, but thats only if you're a pompous, overinflated Health service administrator. He is a thorn in the side of the top-heavy bureaucracy that clogs the wheels of our NHS, the confederacy of dunces who, Pere Ubu-like, emit clouds of bullshit and bureau-speak while the front line troops toil and sweat. This is no finely honed erudite scientific paper suitable for the august pages of the Lancet or British Medical Journal. Nor is it a polite, well-reasoned series of debating points about NHS reform under our present leaderships, for the Spectator or Guardian. Rather, it is a volley of furious polemic from a hardened warrior in the battlefield of today's National Health Service, a blast from both barrels of a sawn-off shotgun rather than a deft rapier thrust. Buy this book, if you are an NHS elf or dwarf, like a good belly laugh, or use the NHS and wonder whats going on in it. - Stefan This delightful little book emerged from a lecture given by the author about the loss of the art of clinical medicine. It will take you half an hour to read. The cartoons drawn by the author support a text whose ease of reading belies the wisdom that unerringly puts its finger on exactly what has gone wrong with our beloved National Elf Service (NES), and why. The cartoons at times seem to remind us of a combination of Calman (Mel, not Kenneth) and the Simpsons, but never fail to support the points made about serious issues. This is the kind of book that can be easily passed around amongst kindred spirits, and whose gentle but perceptive touch amuses, but strikes deep chords of recognition of the threats we all know are stalking our National Elf Service. - Dr Paul Main 30th August 2016 This little book of satire is composed of cartoons, written and drawn by Paul Goddard. The author is a retired Radiologist. This is a book for a read on a train or short plane journey and is inexpensive (less than 2 gallons of petrol!). While the book will be of interest to mature consultants, especially those approaching retirement (or even retired) as a reminder of times gone by it should be read by others including younger consultants and trainees. In an easy to read and well-illustrated little book Professor Goddard touches with gentle satire such topics as super-specialisation, over investigation, rising malpractice, clinical freedom, mentorship, rising political and societal expectations, drug interactions, complexity of medicine, the loss of Matron, working time directives and much more. Throughout there are satirical comments on modern NHS management. At first sight it is a book of satire, it is readable and would be valuable for senior and junior doctors and their managers to browse through not all in the past was good but not all was bad either we can learn from the past as the NHS of the future unfolds this little book is a useful, painless way of so doing. - Professor Roy Spence, OBE, MA, MD, LLD (Hon), FRCS, Consultant Surgeon