The Naked Surgeon:
the power and peril of transparency in medicine

£12.99 GBP

The Naked Surgeon:
the power and peril of transparency in medicine

Overview

As a medical student, Samer Nashef was unofficially blacklisted when he started asking questions about the death rates of more senior surgeons. Since then, he has made his name challenging colleagues to be more open and accurate about the success of the procedures they perform.

In The Naked Surgeon, Nashef unclothes his own profession, offering an unprecedented and often controversial view inside the operating theatre. He explains how surgeons can ‘game’ the system to make their results appear better; why the way a surgeon ties the knot in a single stitch could make a life-or-death difference; and why patients operated on the day before a surgeon goes on holiday are twice as likely to die than those operated on during that surgeon’s first day back.

Full of eye-opening revelations about the cardiac surgeon’s craft, The Naked Surgeon is necessary reading for anybody considering medical intervention now, or in the future.

Details

Format
Paperback
Size
198mm x 129mm
Extent
224 pages
ISBN
9781925228694
RRP
GBP£12.99
Pub date
13 October 2016

Praise

'A superb book for anyone who wants to understand the challenges and complexities of transparency and accountability in the NHS. Told through the eyes of a heart surgeon, it's gripping, honest and numerate - an essential companion in our journey from blind trust in doctors to kind truth. 

'The Naked Surgeon is both is a very important and timely book. Heart surgeon Samer Nashef takes us on a gripping journey from blind trust in surgeons to kind truth. His writing is engagingly honest and numerate, and he is unashamedly open about the risks, benefits and past disasters of his profession, and the importance of focusing on outcomes and knowing where you're heading. Secrecy and cover-up have done huge damage to patients, professionals and the NHS, but the new march to absolute transparency must also be handled with care. Statistics are always simplifications, further distorted in the media, and there is a delicate balance to be had in holding professionals to account and scaring them away from innovation and operating on those who are at highest risk and have most to gain. This book will be vital to anyone who has to weigh up the pros and cons of surgery. And that's most of us, at some stage.' 
Dr Phil Hammond
‘[An] excellent book’
Sathnam SangheraThe Times
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About the Author

Samer Nashef qualified as a doctor at the University of Bristol in 1980 and is a consultant cardiac surgeon at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge. He is a dedicated teacher and communicator and is recognised as a world-leading expert on risk and quality in surgical care. He is the author of The Naked Surgeon and a compiler of cryptic crosswords for The Guardian and the Financial Times.
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