Rachel Clarke
Rachel Clarke | |
|---|---|
Rachel Clarke, Royal Society of Medicine, London (2024) | |
| Born | 1972 (age 52–53) Wiltshire, England |
| Education | Oxford University University College London |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Physician |
| Field | Palliative care |
| Institutions | Oxford University University College London |
| Notable works | Your Life in My Hands (2017) Dear Life (2020) Breathtaking (2021) |
| Awards | Women's Prize for Non-Fiction (2025) |
Rachel Clarke (née Rendall, born 1972) is a British writer and physician, specialising in palliative and end of life care and working in Great Western Hospital. She is the author of Breathtaking (2021), an account of working inside the NHS during the UK's first wave of COVID-19, a work that formed the basis of a TV series of the same name. Her former works include her memoir about life as a newly qualified medical practitioner, Your Life in My Hands (2017), and Dear Life (2020), which explores death, dying and end-of-life care.
Formerly a current affairs journalist, covering topics that included Al Qaeda, the Gulf War, and the Second Congo War, she subsequently attended medical school from 2003, qualifying as a doctor in 2009. During 2015–2016, she had an active voice in the dispute in the United Kingdom between newly qualified physicians and the government over their contractual conditions of work, appearing in multiple television debates and interviews.