With the NHS under pressure, it is easy to see doctors (if you can actually get to see one…) as the detached and privileged functionaries of a rather unwieldy and overloaded system. It is easy to forget that these individuals have their own histories of illness, trauma or emotional pain, as well as their own idiosyncrasies and blind spots, and that they are working under trying conditions, within a framework designed by politicians, using computer software that can perpetuate stigma and social inequality. You don’t have to pity them, just understand why they are what they are.
About the artist
Ian Williams
Dr Ian Williams is a comics artist, writer and doctor who lives in Brighton. His work includes two graphic novels, ‘The Bad Doctor‘ and ‘The Lady Doctor‘, and the third of the trilogy, ‘The Sick Doctor’, will be published in 2025. He named the area of study called graphic medicine, and is the creator and co-editor of the Graphic Medicine website. He is founder of the not-for-profit Graphic Medicine International Collective and co-author of the Eisner-nominated ‘Graphic Medicine Manifesto‘. He has produced comic strips for the Guardian newspaper, and numerous organisations, including Wellcome Collection.