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What a treat it was to talk to Ani Gavrilovic about what must be one of the most moving, and thought provoking novels I have ever read.  Maylis de Kerangal's Mend the Living is the story of 24 hours in the heart of 19 year old Simon Limbeau. It is a story of death and life, of organ transplants and human stories, of a day from many different perspectives.  It is a story of love and hope as well as loss and darkness.

Organ Donation UK
https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/

https://orgamites.com/ this is a brilliant resource for assisting with conversations with primary school aged children about organ donation

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Join Tara this week as she talks to Mahima Chandrasekar about the powerful love story of the NHS and its neonatal care that is Francesca Segal's phenomenal memoir Mothership.

We talk about the alien spaceship world of the NICU, how if we are scared as doctors it must be terrifying as a parent. We think about language, how relatives are horribly diminished is we call them "mum" rather than their real names. We think about camaraderie, support networks, love, compassion, hope and wonder.

This is a stunning book. Our first discussion/review was published as a DFTB book review in summer 2021: https://dontforgetthebubbles.com/mother-ship-by-francesca-segal/

We had so much more to say about it this time round!!!  It is a book full of life, love, hope, fear and one which has undoubtedly changed both our practice significantly and positively forever.

Francesca Segal has her own podcast which is all about prematurity and can be found here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/mother-ship-a-podcast-about-prematurity/id1500789844

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It's Valentines Day this week and in celebration we have a love story on the podcast today. This isn't a traditional schmaltzy love story though, The Salt Path is a stunning love letter, the record of a long walk and features the sort of love story most of us will never be lucky enough to experience. Tara is joined by Pim Dahan to talk about love, homelessness, the power of nature and the importance of slowing down.

When Raynor Winn and her husband became homeless and he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, they packed their rucksacks and began walking the South West Coast Path. She tells her extraordinary story of prejudice, hidden communities and finding home



RESOURCES FROM TODAY'S EPISODE

Rural Homelessness
https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/rural-england-homeless-problem-hidden/
Raynor Winn writing in the Big Issue about rural homelessness

Shelter
https://www.shelter.org.uk/

NHS England Guidance on Social Prescribing
https://www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/social-prescribing/

Men's Sheds
https://menssheds.org.uk/

Grounding Techniques
https://togetherinmind.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/TSC-Posters_Grounding-Techniques.pdf

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Join Tara George and Trisha Cantley as they talk about Ben Watt's memoir Patient. Yes it is that Ben Watt from "Everything But The Girl".  This is the at times terrifying story of a mystery illness which results in a young man having a near death experience and a prolonged and terrifying hospital stay.  We talk about our experiences of hospitals as doctors rather than patients, about the vulnerability of being ill, the effect of illness on relationships, what hospitals are good at and what they aren't.  We also thought a lot about the value of book clubs (Trisha is involved with the wonderful #geribookclub on twitter) and how we read - "real" books vs e-books vs audible and the pros and cons of all of these. 

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Join Tara as she talks to Ripon Ahmed about Sunjeev Sahota's phenomenal novel "The Year of the Runaways".   This is a wonderful book and we had such a brilliant discussion about migration, generational changes, aspiration, survival, access to healthcare, attitudes to mental illness, homelessness, families, caste, class and discrimination among many many other things.  The Year of the Runaways is a superb exploration of experiences which are all too real for some of our most vulnerable patients.

There are a couple of great interviews with the author about the book here:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/dec/12/sunjeeva-sahota-books-interview-the-year-of-the-runaways

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08ktmzc

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This episode Tara is talking to Emma Cunliffe a locum civilian medical practitioner for the MOD and long standing Out of Hours GP about Fredrick Backman's book A Man Called Ove.  They talk about unexpected friendships, grumpy old men, grief and how life experiences  shape us in unimaginable ways.

This book does explore suicidal thoughts and attempts and whilst framed in a lighthearted way it is important we don't trivialise the topic or dismiss the topic.

If you are having thoughts of ending your own life, please try to reach out to someone

Samaritans run a 24hr helpline:

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

Campaign to end loneliness:

https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org

Age UK

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/get-involved/brighter/

For younger people

https://www.papyrus-uk.org

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This week Tara is talking to Catriona Davis a remote and rural GP on Islay about Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet.  We explore themes around relationships, bereavement, child bereavement in particular, plagues and getting lost in stories.

Some resources you may find helpful

Child Bereavement UK

Helpline 0800 028 8840

https://www.childbereavementuk.org

RCGP Child Bereavement Guidelines
https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/blog/index.php?entryid=48

SANDS – the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society

https://www.sands.org.uk

The Lullaby Trust – specifically relating to SIDS

https://www.lullabytrust.org.uk


SIMBA
https://www.simbacharity.org.uk/

Held in our Hearts
https://heldinourhearts.org.uk/

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Tara speaks to Jo Stewart, a GP in Western Australia about James Rhodes’ book Instrumental. We talk about Adverse Childhood Experiences, Attachment, language, safeguarding and the power of holding space. 

Find out more about James Rhodes here https://www.jamesrhodes.tv

**TRIGGER WARNING**:
This is a very dark book in places and in the discussion we talk about the catastrophic abuse Rhodes suffered at the hands of a trusted adult. This might not be an episode for everyone and please don’t listen in the car with your kids listening too.

 
Spotify Playlist as recommended by James Rhodes to accompany the book https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5mmEdd2fEpEiejq4lg2jZE

RESOURCES JO AND TARA THINK MIGHT BE USEFUL

• The abetternhs blog written by Jonathon Tomlinson is incredible.  This specific post is well worth reading: https://abetternhs.net/2017/10/15/we-need-to-talk-about-trauma/ though the whole blog is totally  brilliant

• Calculate ACE scores and find out more about Adverse Childhood Experiences here: https://acestoohigh.com

• I cannot recommend the book The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van der Kolk enough on the subject of the effect of trauma

• Finally, the amazing novel A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara 

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This week Tara is talking to Charlotte Squires, digital media editor for the British Geriatric Society and the organiser of the wonderful #geribookclub on twitter about Richard Osman's debut "The Thursday Murder Club".

They discuss the evolution of relationships, putting older people front and centre in a novel, the value of role models and why #bemorejoyce should be trending ...

Interestingly after we'd recorded the episode, and talked about Chris and his relationship with food, but before the episode was released, this brilliant Guardian interview with Richard Osman came out and perhaps explains why and how he wrote so effectively about Chris' relationship with food which we'd picked up in our chat: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/dec/26/richard-osman-reveals-difficult-journey-with-food-addiction?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

For more resources around eating disorders the national charity Beat is always great https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/

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Tara talks to Nicola Davis about Night Feeds and Morning Songs  a glorious collection of poems about motherhood (collected and curated by Ana Sampson who was Tara's guest on 7th December for the Christmas shopping episode)

The talk about the romanticised idyll of motherhood vs the reality, juggling multiple roles, the value of good perinatal care and the fabulous accessibility of poetry when you have a very short attention span.

Apologies that there are some very funny noises in the edit here, we decided the conversation was too good to throw the recording away but do acknowledge it's not up to the usual bedside reading clarity standards.

RESOURCES

RCGP perinatal mental health toolkit:
https://www.rcgp.org.uk/clinical-and-research/resources/toolkits/perinatal-mental-health-toolkit.aspx

RCPsych Perinatal Resources
https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mental-health