Oh Dear, Doctor!

Book excerpt: Oh Dear, Doctor! is the fourth in the series of Dr Clifford's richly entertaining and true-life accounts of his experiences as a G.P. in a small West Country practice. Once again the inhabitants of Tadchester and Sanford prove that patients are not necessarily a virtue. Like Ralph, the tiny greengrocer, only too aware that an operation might restore marital duties with his huge bowler-hatted wife; the commander's wife who was literally a knock-out; and the dubious joys of being a school medical officer. Even off duty, things don't go too smoothly - there are trials and tribulations of taking his elderly and eccentric father-in-law on a camping holiday through France . . . and the writer's summer school where Dr Clifford ends up holding endless surgeries. Doctor, family man, humourist, philosopher and counsellor, Dr Robert Clifford takes us through his busy life, sharing his patients' problems and joys, tragedies and courage.