Packing away all my books was a silly thing to do; I’ve been craving the written word. So, when the monthly Readings catalogue arrived in my mailbox last week, I ravaged it like a Yapping Dog set down in front of a endless bowl of Eukaneuba. After scanning the pages, I decided on Dissection by Jacinta Halloran and tootled down to the Hawthorn store to collect.
It’s basically about a GP in her early forties who has been served a writ for medical negligence; she didn’t diagnose cancer in a patient until seven months after symptoms presented. It reminded me of an episode of MDA (why was that show ever axed?) in that it’s a medical negligence suit that prompts the subsequent plot.
Whilst it is fiction, Halloran is a real life GP and able to bring a certain reality to the challenges the protagonist faces. For example the average GP is expected to meet and greet a patient, find out what their problems are, suggest some course of remedy, fill in all the paperwork and prepare for the next patient in an average 15 minute consultation.
It’s not a long read but thoroughly enjoyable.
