The central part of this story is a fascinating account of the trials and tribulations associated with the author s determination to establish a heart transplant programme in Britain. He eventually performed Britain s first successful heart transplant at Papworth Hospital near Cambridge in 1979. At the time there were only four other centres in the world performing heart transplants. However, within a decade over 4,000 patients a year were being transplanted worldwide, and Papworth had become one of the best known hospitals for heart and lung transplantation.

The author s involvement in this work led to professional recognition and the presidency of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Amongst other responsibilities, he became engaged in trying to modify some of the more controversial reforms of the National Health Service being introduced at that time by the Thatcher government. Other honours followed, including a knighthood and seven years as Master of St Catharine s College in Cambridge, which added a new dimension of interest to his life.

The story also covers his early years in South Africa, including his work as a diamond-driller in Rhodesia and then qualification as a mining engineer before deciding to become a doctor. Prior to starting at Guy s Hospital in London, he engaged in mining exploration in Northern Quebec and the Yukon and during the next three years returned to Canada each summer for similar work. His training in cardiac surgery coincided with exciting developments in this new specialty, during which his background in engineering proved helpful.

A theme present throughout Terence English s autobiography is that of Follow Your Star . For him this meant being prepared to change direction if a brighter star seemed to appear on the horizon. This led to several false starts along the way, but most provided valuable and enriching experiences, even if they did not contribute to his eventual career.

The application of audit to resource allocation and clinical practice has emerged as a fundamental principle in Western medical systems over recent years. Used effectively, audit can have wide-ranging benefits for both the patient and the practitioner, in terms of resource management and quality of care. This book reviews the concepts behind audit and the approaches that individual specialties take. First, the book describes the philosophy of audit and the requirements of various agencies such as the Department of Health and the Royal College of Surgeons for audit. Second, the book outlines the specific requirements of the major specialties and third, the book gives practical suggestions for the development of an audit strategy. There are comparisons between audit performed in the United Kingdom and that performed in the United States and Sweden. Further, the need to consider the relationship between resource management and medical audit particularly with reference to the data requirements is emphasized. Throughout the book the concept of "completing the loop," i.e.the need to effect change from the audit activity is discussed as well as the educational value of audit. The editors have stressed that there are no hard and fast rules in creating an audit strategy and as yet there are few experts.

The central part of this story is a fascinating account of the trials and tribulations associated with the author s determination to establish a heart transplant programme in Britain. He eventually performed Britain s first successful heart transplant at Papworth Hospital near Cambridge in 1979. At the time there were only four other centres in the world performing heart transplants. However, within a decade over 4,000 patients a year were being transplanted worldwide, and Papworth had become one of the best known hospitals for heart and lung transplantation.

The author s involvement in this work led to professional recognition and the presidency of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Amongst other responsibilities, he became engaged in trying to modify some of the more controversial reforms of the National Health Service being introduced at that time by the Thatcher government. Other honours followed, including a knighthood and seven years as Master of St Catharine s College in Cambridge, which added a new dimension of interest to his life.

The story also covers his early years in South Africa, including his work as a diamond-driller in Rhodesia and then qualification as a mining engineer before deciding to become a doctor. Prior to starting at Guy s Hospital in London, he engaged in mining exploration in Northern Quebec and the Yukon and during the next three years returned to Canada each summer for similar work. His training in cardiac surgery coincided with exciting developments in this new specialty, during which his background in engineering proved helpful.

A theme present throughout Terence English s autobiography is that of Follow Your Star . For him this meant being prepared to change direction if a brighter star seemed to appear on the horizon. This led to several false starts along the way, but most provided valuable and enriching experiences, even if they did not contribute to his eventual career.