RESIGNATION
About
“The buck stops here” isn’t just a metaphor for an NHS consultant – it’s a cardiac monitor flatlining and you're the person who will have to tell his wife.
After years serving in the trenches on the NHS frontline, Tony has been transferred to staff headquarters as a consultant anaesthetist with a special interest in the care of critically ill patients in the Intensive Care Unit. At the pinnacle of his career, Tony finds that the view from the summit is breathtaking for all the wrong reasons. Life-and-death decisions are now his alone to make, and they are even more stressful now that the buck stops with him.
Between the thrill of giving general anaesthetics in the operating theatre, the adrenaline rush of the Intensive Care Unit and the dark comedy of hospital politics, Tony ends up wearing too many hats as a doctor, teacher, trainer, examiner, appraiser, mortality investigator and reluctant diplomat. It’s challenging stuff and keeps Tony busy at all hours, seven days a week. While he’s fighting death and disease on the NHS frontline and hospital managers in the boardroom, Tony forgets to monitor his own pulse. His work-life balance becomes increasingly unbalanced until the stunning realisation that he is suffering from burnout hits home. Tony knows that something has to change. He might have to walk away from the job he loves to save himself.
Filled with laugh-until-you-cry irony, Resignation is the final instalment of a three-book medical memoir, highlighting the highs and lows of the final chapter of a lifetime in medicine.
Here are the first two chapters...
Praise for this book
A fascinating conclusion to an excellent trilogy.
This book follows a consultant career from its start to retirement. Full of engaging stories -thoughtful ,amusing and sad in equal measure and all set against a time when medical practice has changed more rapidly than at any other time thanks to technological advances an aging population and rising patient expectation.
The openness and honesty which are contained here are something to be admired as many senior doctors will recognise the pressures from within their experience too . If you are a doctor read this and have your experiences and feelings validated and if aren’t but are interested you will understand headlines about doctor burnout and that it is neither a sign of weakness or exaggerated.
Excellent Read.
This book really gives a view of what life is for the staff in the front of the NHS.
It is at times amusing but also shows the heartbreaking reality of what is to have to make life-changing decisions in a state of complete physical and emotional exhaustion, and have to make the right decision every single time or someone else suffers for your mistake.
The book also shows how this impossible task is some times helped with the support of "the band of brothers"/friends/colleagues that surround you.
All in all an excellent book.
Fantastic.
Finishing Dr. McCluskey’s compelling trilogy feels a bit like stepping off a long, absorbing journey, one that leaves you both satisfied but quietly wishing it wasn’t quite over. Which naturally raises the question: could there possibly be another book in the pipeline… perhaps something fittingly titled ‘Retirement’?
The Doc has a remarkable ability to pull back the curtain and reveal what truly goes on behind the scenes, the decisions, the pressures, the unseen effort that shapes every outcome. It’s this honesty and attention to detail that elevates the books beyond simple storytelling into something far more meaningful.
There’s also an unmistakable sense of respect that builds as you read. Respect for the dedication, the resilience, and the sheer hard work. You come away not only entertained, but with a deeper appreciation for the realities that most people never get to see.
Bravo, Dr. McCluskey. You’ve told your story with clarity, depth and impact, you’ve more than earned whatever comes next.
Excellent read, couldn't out it down.
You certainly were not a fossil or an old fart Tony. Although you did like to talk, especially to your juniors much to the annoyance off a certain breast surgeon who had a regular list in day case theatres. Enjoy your well deserved retirement and your family and know that you definitely made a positive difference for patients and colleagues. Hope that didn't sound too much like a strap line!
Excellent reading.
I have read all 3 and loved every bit of them . I worked at the "Eastern General" and recognise some of the characters despite name changes. The nostalgia from the 1st book almost makes me want to go back and do it again. An excellent read.