Breathtaking

How does it feel to confront a pandemic from the inside, one patient at a time? To bridge the gulf between a perilously unwell patient in quarantine and their distraught family outside? To be uncertain whether the protective equipment you wear fits the science or the size of the government stockpile? To strive your utmost to maintain your humanity even while barricaded behind visors and masks? Rachel is a palliative care doctor who cared for the most gravely unwell patients on the Covid-19 wards of her hospital. Amid the tensions, fatigue, and rising death toll, she witnessed the courage of patients and NHS staff alike in conditions of unprecedented adversity. Her book, ‘Breathtaking’, is an unflinching insider’s account of medicine in the time of coronavirus.