NHS workers praise ‘gritty realness’ of Adam Kay’s BBC One drama This is Going to Hurt
NHS workers praise ‘gritty realness’ of BBC One’s adaptation of Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt, saying it shows racism, trauma and burn-out doctors and nurses face working in a ‘broken system’
Ben Whishaw plays Adam Kay, a former real-life trainee medic turned TV writer, in the new BBC One adaptation of his 2017 memoir This is Going to Hurt First episode sees gruesome childbirth scenes and racist abuse of junior doctor NHS workers unflinching approach to realities of the UK’s healthcare system, with one saying: ‘We’ve been living with shows like Grey’s Anatomy for too long’One scene sees a racist new mum asking for an Asian doctor not to be allowed to touch her baby, despite having successfully delivered it
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Doctors and nurses working in the NHS have praised the BBC‘s adaptation of Adam Kay’s 2017 novel This is Going to Hurt, saying it showed the reality of what it’s like ‘working in a broken system’.
The first episode of the six-part series aired on BBC One on Tuesday with James Bond star Ben Whishaw taking on the role of Adam Kay, an overworked, under-qualified trainee medic who is so exhausted from long shifts he often sleeps in his car.
The hour-long programme, which documents former medic Kay’s first tumultuous years as a Junior Doctor, honestly reflected the realities of working for the NHS, said UK healthcare workers tuning in.
Alongside unflinching childbirth scenes – Kay at one point has to hold an umbilical cord inside a pregnant women’s body while being ferried around the hospital on a trolley – there were also scenes depicting racism in the health service.
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Ben Whishaw plays Adam Kay, a former real-life trainee medic, in BBC adaptation of his memoir This is Going to Hurt – after the first episode of the six-part drama aired on BBC One on Tuesday, many healthcare workers said the show offered an accurate portrayal of a ‘broken’ NHS
NHS workers praised the show, which Kay, now a writer for TV, wrote for its unflinching approach to the British healthcare system; one scene showed actor Ben Whishaw holding an umbilical cord inside a pregnant women’s body en route to the labour ward
One scene sees a racist new mum asking for an Asian doctor not to be allowed to touch her baby, despite having successfully delivered it
One doctor said the moment sparked a flashback for him, saying he’d experienced the ‘exact same words. F***ing horrific’
One labour ward scene showed another nervous trainee doctor helping Kay to deliver a baby by Caesarean section.
When she holds the baby up after a successful delivery, the mother screams a tirade of abuse saying: ‘Get her off. I’m not having a p*** delivering my baby’.
On Twitter, those who work or have worked for the NHS agreed the series’ first episode laid bare the realities, with some saying it triggered PTSD.
@karenstacey82 wrote: ‘Really enjoying the gritty realness of #Thisisgoingtohurt Very dark humour and had me in tears, triggering some deep down PTSD from the job we do. A broken person in a broken system.’
@DrKidneyAsh added: ‘I was slightly skeptical about #ThisIsGoingToHurt but actually it still hits home the real life workings of a junior doctor – tiredness, racism, workload etc. Yes a tad OTT but I still found it true to real life and certainly situations I have faced.’
@L_Harrup asked: ‘Any other medics having PTSD from #thisisgoingtohurt? Definitely think I worked for the same consultant?’
@clarissascortex penned: ‘This is lived reality. Adam isn’t your aspirational hero just doing his best – he’s just an average burnt out NHS doctor of his time.’
@randomsucculent added: ‘Love #ThisIsGoingToHurt for showing what working in the NHS is really like on a tv screen. We’ve been living with shows like Grey’s Anatomy for so long I think we forgot that being a healthcare worker isn’t all sex, money and exciting cases.’
@RoopaFarooki said: ‘All the junior docs I trained with are so grateful to @amateuradam for saying the truth on what we witness as medics, fearlessly sharing our daily reality #ThisIsGoingToHurt gave us a voice (Tho he got an actual locker in 2005, we now just get a bit of changing room floor)’
Adam Kay himself took to Twitter to thank people for the outpouring of praise for the series, which is based on his 2017 memoir
Kay himself took to Twitter on Wednesday to thank people for the outpouring of praise for the series.
He acknowledged the problems he feels the NHS is still facing, saying: ‘I have 6,000 too many messages on here to reply to everyone about #thisisgoingtohurt but thank you with all my heart.
‘The next morning, I’m left full of gratitude for two great institutions under threat – whether pernicious or overt – the NHS and the BBC. Long may they thrive.’
Kay’s diary about his life as a junior doctor, which was at the top of the bestsellers list since it’s release in 2017, is likely to be a huge success again following the six-part series.
It has already won four National Book Awards and has sold more than a million copies. This year, Kay has performed to packed theatres all over the country with a stage show detailing his rollercoaster life working in a hospital.
