• Episode 13: Exorcism
    Dec 21 2025

    ‘When I walked into the cubicle I found a woman in her twenties with long dark hair covering her face, and she was making these low growling sounds and muttering things I couldn't understand. Her family told me she'd become consumed by prayer, which was completely out of character, and had been saying that dark forces were entering her body.’ Marcus Lewis, GP and musician in North London was working in A&E when he met this woman and was told to ‘medically clear’ her. In this episode, he tells Rupal Shah and Bob Clarke what he chose to do instead.


    This podcast is generously sponsored by The Della Fish Foundation.

    The book “Finding Meaning in Healthcare” is published by Routledge ⁠⁠⁠www.routledge.com/9781032832166

    Show More Show Less
    20 mins
  • Episode 12: Missingness
    Dec 21 2025

    In every general practice, we have missing people - the ones who can’t access our help, who miss appointments, who get discharged from secondary care. We can think of them as time wasters who won’t help themselves - or we could respond in another way. In this episode, inner city Dublin GP and author Austin O’Carroll tells Rupal Shah and Bob Clarke a story about a young man who should have been saved.


    This podcast is generously sponsored by The Della Fish Foundation.

    The book “Finding Meaning in Healthcare” is published by Routledge ⁠⁠⁠www.routledge.com/9781032832166

    Show More Show Less
    16 mins
  • Episode 11: You Won't Be Able To Go To Every Funeral
    Oct 19 2025

    'You won't be able to go to every funeral, you know.' So as GPs, how do we choose which to go to, if any? Is it a sensible professional response to maintain boundaries and decline all such invitations or is there more at stake? Dr Andrew Papanikitas talks to Rupal Shah and Bob Clarke about his own experience and the moral choice he made.


    This podcast is generously sponsored by The Della Fish Foundation.

    The book “Finding Meaning in Healthcare” is published by Routledge ⁠⁠⁠www.routledge.com/9781032832166

    Show More Show Less
    14 mins
  • Episode 10: The Missing Man
    Oct 19 2025

    The young man has missed his GP appointment on three separate occasions in the past year. Should he be sent another admonishing text message from the practice; or is there a different response, one that inserts presence into absence? In this episode, Dr Suni Perera talks to Rupal Shah and Bob Clarke about compassion in the context of missingness.


    This podcast is generously sponsored by The Della Fish Foundation.

    The book “Finding Meaning in Healthcare” is published by Routledge ⁠⁠⁠www.routledge.com/9781032832166

    Show More Show Less
    17 mins
  • Episode 9: You Suffer
    Sep 29 2025

    In this episode, Rupal Shah and Bob Clarke welcome back Dr Jens Foell, who tells us the story of two very different responses to the utterance, 'You Suffer'. His story raises the question of what it means to be a GP. Are we containers, there to 'hold' the patient, even if this sometimes holds them back? Or should we move to becoming 'conveyors', helping people to move on from stuck situations?


    This podcast is generously sponsored by The Della Fish Foundation.

    The book “Finding Meaning in Healthcare” is published by Routledge ⁠⁠www.routledge.com/9781032832166


    Show More Show Less
    13 mins
  • Episode 8: Where's the Bloody Oxygen?
    Sep 29 2025

    John has an advance directive, stating that he doesn't want to go to hospital again. But when he is struggling to breathe, his wife becomes distressed and begs his GP to arrange admission. Whose wishes should get prioritised in this case? Can guidelines be ignored in certain situations? And should aggression ever be tolerated?In this episode, Dr Rowena Christmas tells the story of John and discusses with Rupal Shah and Bob Clarke the moral dilemmas that his case raised for her.


    This podcast is generously sponsored by The Della Fish Foundation.

    The book “Finding Meaning in Healthcare” is published by Routledge ⁠⁠www.routledge.com/9781032832166


    Show More Show Less
    11 mins
  • Episode 7: More Tramadol Please
    Aug 31 2025

    Is it true that we don’t see our patients as they are; we see them as we are? Can we be sure that we are seeing people clearly and are not blinded by our own biases and assumptions? In this episode, GP and author Dr Ben Hoban tells Rupal Shah and Bob Clarke how he responded differently to two requests for Tramadol. The questions that arise fit within the hermeneutic window.

    This podcast is generously sponsored by The Della Fish Foundation.

    The book “Finding Meaning in Healthcare” is published by Routledge ⁠www.routledge.com/9781032832166

    Show More Show Less
    10 mins
  • Episode 6: And it Hit Me
    Aug 31 2025

    In this episode, GP and medical educator Professor Sabena Jameel tells the story of a life changing relationship with a patient. Through the lens of the hermeneutic window, she explains to Rupal Shah and Bob Clarke how a simple act of kindness saved someone’s life and fundamentally changed her own views about the role of a GP.

    This podcast is generously sponsored by The Della Fish Foundation.

    The book “Finding Meaning in Healthcare” is published by Routledge ⁠www.routledge.com/9781032832166

    Show More Show Less
    12 mins