An insider’s story of Covid

Intensive Care: A GP, A Community And Covid-19 Gavin Francis

Profile Books, £16.99

Gavin Francis is a doctor whose work takes him from the hustle and bustle of Edinburgh to the isolated islands of Orkney, a community peculiarly both protected by and vulnerable to infectious diseases.

The first mention of Covid-19 appeared on the last day of December 2019 when the Chinese authorities alerted the World Health Organisation to “a new and dangerous strain of viral pneumonia that had arisen in Wuhan, central China”.

When this insightful account begins, little was known of the illness or how damaging it would be, physically, mentally and economically.

Francis describes his job as a GP as a “strange mingling of science and candour” and this compelling book reads very much like his job description.

He explains exactly what Covid-19 is and the damage it can cause to the body. He also examines the evolution of the epidemic, its rapid global spread, and the way it transformed his life and those of his patients.

He explains how the Scottish community dealt with the heartbreaking consequences of infection, and the tireless efforts of medical staff and frontline workers to keep people alive and safe.

And, with compassion, he describes the people he meets, from new mothers with tiny babies and teenagers struggling to cope, to newly released prisoners and psychiatric patients who emerge into a world that is entirely off kilter. The most tender and touching stories are those of the lonely and elderly who are shielding, pining for the companionship of their families.

Intensive Care ends in October 2020, as vaccines are being trialled, statistics studied and hospitals and GP practices readied for another surge.

It’s a timely reminder that “the work of medicine is without end” and that its “alliance of science, kindness and intensive care” would hopefully ensure that “humanity would recover from this pandemic, as it has from so many in the past”.