Phil Hammond

Biography

Phil is ‘one of the most entertainingly subversive people on the planet’, according to The Guardian. A practising GP better known as a comedy writer, author and broadcaster. He offers after dinner audiences a private consultation bristling with humour whilst also taking a more considered view of the NHS and health in conferences.

With strong views on the National Health Service, Phil is possibly the only comic to be called before a public enquiry. It was he who first investigated the care given to children undergoing heart operations at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. He co-authored a Private Eye special investigation, exposing the treatment of NHS whistleblowers, which triggered an early day motion in Parliament. He remains an active campaigner on issues from NHS management and strategy to individual wellbeing and the misrepresentation of health issues in the media.

As well as writing and his doctoring duties, Phil stood in the Bristol West constituency as the ‘Struck Off and Die Doctors Alliance’ candidate, in the 1992 general election. He polled eighty seven votes. Since then, he has also toured the country with his one-man shows including 59 Minutes to Save the NHS and Games To Play With Your Doctor.

Phil’s numerous TV appearances include Have I Got News for You, Countdown, Question Time, The One Show, plus his own series Trust Me, I’m a Doctor and Scream - A History of Anaesthetics. He co-wrote the BBC sitcom Doctors and Nurses and penned the Radio 4 series Polyoaks. In print, Phil is Private Eye’s medical correspondent, under the pseudonym MD, and has regularly writes for the Guardian and Telegraph. His books include Staying Alive - How to Survive the NHS, What doctors really think…, Trust Me I’m a Doctor and Medicine Balls.