I enjoyed this book, as I am always keen to know more about the work of our medical profession. A prison doctor is not one I had heard about before and I think I had imagined it well.
It is good to hear more about the characters behind the prison walls, although the identities are protected.
There can't be many willing to do this type of work, as it holds many restrictions and frustrations for the staff. Dr Brown had an interesting pathway to her last prison job, leaving the frustrations of the health service behind. Job satisfaction to me was hard to see but that is probably what made this book interesting, you cant sanitise things.
I felt the book was an easy read and one I didn't get emotionally involved in, which is just as well. I am a nurse and will recommend this book to my friends and colleagues, to see if they can get an insight into the work of the prison doctor.

As a huge fan of true crime & prison books this was a must read for me.

An unchallenging but insightful read into the medical profession behind the scenes in the British prison service.

Dr Amanda Brown writes brilliantly and candidly about her experiences (so far) and tells the stories of inmates she has dealt with.

Some scenes could be upsetting for some as it hits on domestic violence, sexual abuse and drugs but it was amazing to read something so honest and Frank from someone who us on the frontline of our prison statement.

A true eye opening and thought provoking memoir which is also unsentimental in the way a prison doctor (or any doctor I suppose) has to be. Harrowing at times but it very quickly moves on to the next subject, next patient.

You can tell that Dr Brown has literally written it down as she remembers it which I really liked, no pretence or fillers to bulk it out, just hard hitting true facts and emotions.

Thanks to netgalley and HQ Stories for the ARC.

his book was an average read. I had been expecting more but it was still an ok book.

An ok book that didn’t live up to its hype

A brilliant read.
I loved Dr Browns voice, she was so humble and fair and honest. Making a heavy topic easy to read.
Detailing her career with in the prison system it was interesting from beginning to end.

The Prison Doctor is the latest in a string of bestselling medical memoirs (see also Adam Kay and Henry Marsh). Dr Amanda Brown is a Home Counties GP when she quits suddenly and finds herself saying yes to a job as a GP in a young offenders institution. It’s rather a shock to the system. Out goes bumping into her patients in Waitrose, in comes managing drug withdrawals and ‘key training’.

We follow Dr Brown as she finds her feet in the youth offending system, moves to Wormwood Scrubs, and finally to HMP Bronzefield, Europe’s largest female prison. At 65 as she writes, she loves her job and is nowhere near retiring.

The work does takes its toll. From tackling the psychotic effects of ‘spice’ and pregabalin addiction, to the the frustration with endemic mental health problems resulting from childhood abuse and neglect (especially in the women’s prison, almost all of the prisoners have been victims of childhood abuse and sexual violence), to confronting violent self harm - Dr Brown finds herself increasingly unable to connect with her wealthy and privileged peers who do not understand her new passion for prison medicine.

This isn’t a challenging read - although the subject matter might well be for readers who don’t live or work with our most vulnerable. I wanted to hear more about the people who work in prisons and how they maintain their resilience in the face of such pain and sadness, perhaps hearing less of Brown’s sometimes pedestrian philosophising on the nature of freedom while she trudges through the fields on her days off. Despite this, The Prison Doctor is the first mainstream writing I’ve come across on healthcare within the prison service and it has inspired me professionally as well as enhancing my respect for everyone who works in prisons.

A fascinating insight into a world many of us are unfamiliar with & rarely think about.
Whilst she became a prison doctor almost by accident after a long career as a village GP, she seemed to embrace the challenge. The book is written as a series of anecdotes, yet in a well-flowing and structured way. There is enough detail, without being too much. I am sure some of the details have been changed, but there is so much that is real, hard hitting, raw.
Throughout the book, the compassion that Dr Brown has for her patients comes across. She doesn't judge them, but sees them as individuals. She takes time to listen to them & shows humanity in the way she treats them. We do get a sense of her battling "the system" at times, but we also see her persistence in getting the seriously ill patient admitted to hospital despite their being as shortage of prison officers to escort them, the way she tackles the abusive language/behaviour she encounters or the way she is touched by the appalling bullying or sheer desperation that she is sometimes called to deal with.

I was particularly struck by these sentences in chapter 18: "Some prisoners left my life as quickly as they had entered it. I can only hope that I may have helped a few of them in some way on their journey"

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
#ThePrisonDoctor #NetGalley

I loved loved this book! I found it very Interesting and I learnt alot from reading this book. The honesty and the writing makes this book fantastic,

It took me a few pages to get into it but once I did I couldn't put it down reading what happens on the inside is truly shocking, I enjoyed it so much that I went and got my two friends a copy of the book as I know they would love it it's an unputdownable unforgettable book that I highly recommend. It's a must read for everyone

My thanks to Netgalley and HQ for a copy of The Prison Doctor for an honest review.

I really enjoy a book that takes me out of my comfort zone ,and gives me an insight into areas that , especially in this case, I hopefully will never have personally experience.!
In very demanding situations Dr Brown shows compassion and professionalism and I praise her for the job that she does.
I would definitely recommend this book to others, especially to those who enjoyed Adam Kay’s book “This is going to Hurt “.

5 stars
Wow, what a book!
I'm probably not the only one that has mever really thought about all the different staff in Prisons and it never occurred to me that there is full time health professionals in each Prison.
Amanda Brown is obviously a very caring person that is sympathetic, emotional and has empathy for other people and their situation. What I loved most about her was her lack of judgement. There wasn't an inch of judgement in this book and it made for such an eye opening and interesting read.
Her writing was good and we really got a sense of the atmosphere in each Prison and the different problems facing each of them. It was shocking and heartbreaking but a wonderful read.
I really think this should be on the best sellers list up there with "This is going to hurt".

Please note that this e-book was gifted in exchange for an honest review.

Amanda is a terrific writer and I was so into her book, I read it all in a couple of days! It makes you think, laugh and cry. Even more important, it helped me understand that we as a nation had better start paying attention to the prison system which is reaching a tipping point - and one not in our favor. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

This is a super non fiction book by Amanda Brown. It was well written with lots of very interesting facts about life as a Prison Doctor.

I had never really thought about what role the Doctors in prisons have but this book certainly opened my eyes to the job with the highs and lows along the way. A very tough but rewarding career choice.

I enjoyed reading this book and would highly recommend it as it was easy to read although some of the subject matter was distressing. Couldn't put it down!

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ for the chance to read this book. This review is my own opinion.

Provides an interesting insight into prison life in the UK and the people that provide medical care for thee prisoners. It ended a little quickly for me though

This book was a good read! Excellent. Would recommend it to anyone. Depicted life in prison of a prison doctor treating first young offenders and then in a woman's prison.

I really enjoyed this book – although was a little discombobulated by the original description of it being a novel, when of course it is a non-fiction memoir. I found it an illuminating and compelling description of an unusual profession, one that we often don't hear about.

What an absolute eye opener!
Dr Amanda Brown, thank you so much for sharing some of yours and your patient's stories. The world is a better place because of people like you.

I can not recommend this book enough.

Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.
Amanda started her career as a gp but when things start changing at the surgery she works at she decides to give up her position within the practice. She is asked to consider being a doctor in a young offenders institute which she does. She then moves on to wormwood scrubs followed by a women’s prison. This books give you the insight into the job she does and the sort of people she meets during her work. Wry interesting read, couldn’t put it down.

What an excellent thought provoking book.
Dr. Brown sounds like a thoughtful, caring and non judgemental person, and just what inmates needed.
Some of the things that she came up against sounded harrowing and heartbreaking, but she dealt with them with such professionalism as did her colleagues.
I think that we forget about front line staff in prisons and how they face angry, corrupt but also fragile and broken people every day.

Thanks to Netgalley, Dr. Amanda Brown and HQ publishers for the opportunity to read and review this autobiography.

A fascinating insight into the world of prisons which the majority of us do not get to witness first hand. The stories of the inmates are at times harrowing, but the compassion and empathy of the prison doctor shine through. I shall be recommending this to my book club as our next read.

I enjoyed this searing and honest account of how an excellent GP had had enough of the system and found herself working in the prison service.

She tells it as it is and provides an in-depth account of how prisoners are looked after and also tells us about some of the key incidents and stories that she witnessed and played a part in.

Well worth a read.

I’ve never really thought about healthcare in prisons. For someone like myself, with a pretty privileged background, I’ve never really needed to think about it. The Prison Doctor has opened my eyes to some of the tasks medical professionals undertake in such an environment, and some of the struggles they encounter in order to try and help their patients.

One of the main feelings I got while reading this was the large amount of compassion Dr Amanda Brown has for her patients, and the sometimes truly awful situations that have led to them being in prison. We follow Brown as she leaves her job as a community GP to working in a young offender’s institute, then a men’s prison and finally a women’s prison. Every job is varied, fast paced and harrowing, but it’s her time within the women’s prison that stands out the most. These women she treats are often so institutionalised that they feel safer within the prison walls, constantly reoffending to remain inside because it’s better than a life spent on the streets, wrapped up in prostitution or domestic abuse. There’s one particular woman who’s so ashamed of an ulcer on her leg because of the smell that she wraps it in sanitary towels rather than go to the doctor for help. She’s become so use to thinking that she’s worthless that she doesn’t see herself as worthy of help. That made me so sad to think that really, a lot of these women just need someone to talk to. And that’s what Dr Brown does. She listens, never judges, as her eyes are opened to this new world.

The writing is good too. It’s a quick read, structured and emotional without getting too bogged down in facts or opinions. Dr Brown lets the stories and the people speak for themselves, and I think it’s this simplicity that makes it work so well. It’s certainly brought to my attention a forgotten route in healthcare, and might make me think twice about all those missed appointments we get at work from prisoners who fail to turn up for their MRI scans in the future. The level of responsibility is seriously high too - often Dr Brown has to fight to get her patients admitted to hospital when the prison guards are severely understaffed, or is often the first on scene to a suicide attempt, up to her elbows in blood. It’s high risk, high adrenaline stuff.

Fascinating read, that’s made me think above and beyond my own career.