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WORK TITLE: Savage Cuts
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://colinmcintosh.uk
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COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: Scottish
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Fraserburgh, Scotland; married; wife’s name Barbara.
EDUCATION:Aberdeen University and Medical School, graduate; East Surrey University, classes in creative writing.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and consultant physician in London, England. Aberdeen Teaching Hospitals, junior doctor, 1964-70; National Health Service, senior registrar, 1972-75, endocrinology, 1975-98; Beta Cell Trust, trustee and administrative secretary, 1991-2011; Federation of Nurses in Diabetes, trustee and medical advisor, 1995-; Queen Mary’s University Hospital Roehampton and at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, consulting physician.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Born in Fraserburgh, Scotland, Colin McIntosh is a consultant physician in London with a specialty in diabetes and endocrinology who writes about healthcare and medicine for scientific publications. He graduated from Aberdeen University and Medical School and has worked in Scotland and London teaching hospitals, including Aberdeen Teaching Hospitals, the British National Health Service, Queen Mary’s University Hospital Roehampton , and the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. He retired in 2006. McIntosh has contributed medical articles to scientific journals, but also writes fiction with medical themes that draw on his experience in hospital medicine and fictionalizes some of his encounters with patient cases. He likes reading, music, oil painting, and traveling with his wife, Barbara, to Florida to be “snow birds.”
In 2017, McIntosh published the novel, Savage Cuts, a thriller that combines healthcare with political issues. Royal Infirmary hospital’s new chief executive and health authority Stella Savage is on a mission to close the small hospital claiming it is redundant to modern health services. Her scheme is to make so many cuts to staff and medical care that the hospital will go under. However, she didn’t plan on a resolute staff determined to fight back. There is kindly consulting physician Dr. William Judd who wants the hospital to stay open, and an anonymous whistleblower who is exposing fatal medical mistakes, and sending body parts to the deceased’s family members as evidence. As the crises pile up, a mysterious infectious illness sweeps through the hospital’s staff and patients and into the local community. Throughout everything, some characters rise to the occasion, while others watch out only for themselves, and all are leading soap opera lives.
The characters and medical intrigue are combined with humor and retribution, along with commentary on the British healthcare system, relationships between doctors and nurses, care of patients, and political and financial realities in medical institutions. A writer in Kirkus Reviews noted that McIntosh in places lays the drama on a bit too think, the villains are cartoonishly drawn, and details about the British healthcare system my baffle Americans, however, “the general messages about managing bureaucracy and providing adequate patient care are universal. An entertaining, if sometimes-troubling, look at the chaotic reality of a modern health care system.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2018, review of Savage Cuts.
Colin McIntosh graduated from Aberdeen University and Medical School. He gained experience in Scotland and London teaching hospitals before his appointment as consultant physician in London. He has written and contributed to many scientific publications but this is his first work of fiction. He is avid reader, music lover, occasional oil painter and marvels at the fun and chaos of his grandchildren. He is now writing his second novel, A Physician’s Death, which you can find more about in the Books section of this website.
Colin McIntosh was born in Fraserburgh, Scotland. He graduated from Aberdeen University and Medical School and gained experience in Scotland and London teaching hospitals before his appointment as consultant physician in London. He has written and contributed to many scientific publications but 'Savage Cuts' is his first work of fiction.
He is avid reader, music lover and occasional oil painter. He and Barbara his wife, travel a lot and regularly join other 'snow-birds' in Florida.
Savage Cuts draws on his extensive experience in hospital medicine and he has enjoyed fictionalising some of the memories. He is now finishing his second novel, A Physician’s Death. Information on this can be seen in the Books section of his website - http://colinmcintosh.uk and on Amazon.co.uk.
Dr Colin McIntosh was consultant physician with a special interest in diabetes and endocrinology at Queen Mary’s University Hospital Roehampton and at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital until he took early retirement in 2006, to develop his interests in oil painting and creative writing.
At Queen Mary’s Hospital he developed one of the first diabetes centres in the UK, concentrating on prevention and screening and this led to the creation of a new charity - The Beta Cell Trust. This trust subsequently supported development of a new centre at Queen Mary’s and later at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital as well as giving financial support for multidisciplinary education and research. With the aid of his colleagues, many educational courses were created which led to an MSc course in diabetes in conjunction with University of Surrey.
He has extensive experience in General (Internal) Medicine, Diabetes, Endocrinology, Medico-legal practice, Medical Education, Medical Writing and Healthcare management. He has chaired or served on many committees or advisory groups in the UK and abroad. He has also had experience of military medicine, having served as an officer cadet in Aberdeen University OTC for 5 years and as a TA Officer for a further 30 years, initially with The OTC, followed by a Field Ambulance and 308 General Hospital.
Apart from travel, Colin’s main activities now centre on painting and creative writing. He enjoys oil painting although he recognises that he might need another few decades before exhibiting. Writing also gives him immense pleasure. He attended a 2 year course in Creative Writing at East Surrey University and continues to attend meetings with like-minded colleagues. He has just completed the draft of his first novel, a satirical tale of dark events that occur within two hospitals.
February 21, 2018 2:49 am
‘Savage Cuts’ weight loss aid seized by Health Canada
By Emily Lazatin
Reporter CKNW
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A warning from Health Canada: there may be a serious health risk for anyone taking a weight loss pill distributed from Vancouver.
It’s called Savage Cuts, an ultra-concentrated weight loss aid that claims to increase metabolism.
But the formula contains Yohimbe, a prescription drug that “should be used only under the supervision of a health care professional.”
READ MORE: Health Canada looking into Claire’s cosmetics after store pulls products over asbestos fears
“Serious side effects include increased blood pressure and heart rate, anxiety, dizziness, tremors, headache, nausea, and sleep disorders,” said Health Canada spokesperson Andre Gagnon.
“The fact [is] that they don’t have ingredients on the label, and that can include ingredients like prescription drugs, possibly at doses that are exceeding recommend amounts,” he said.
READ MORE: Health Canada approval of multiple sclerosis drug ‘absolutely a game-changer’
“They have not been approved by Health Canada and that means they have not been assessed for safety, effectiveness or quality.”
The product is being distributed from Vancouver to locations all across the country.
McIntosh, Colin: SAVAGE CUTS
Kirkus Reviews. (Feb. 15, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
McIntosh, Colin SAVAGE CUTS Point Break Publishing (Indie Fiction) $22.00 6, 1 ISBN: 978-0-9955970-3-7
In this debut novel, a steely CEO sets out to close a struggling hospital, but things don't go as planned.
When Stella Savage starts her new post as the chief executive of London's Royal Infirmary, she has one goal in mind: "secretly ensuring the demise of the hospital." That's easier said than done, it turns out, as she discovers that the institution's motley crew of doctors and nurses isn't going to be as easy to control as she anticipated. On top of that, an anonymous whistleblower claims that he has evidence of incorrect diagnoses--and he's sending body parts of deceased patients to family members that seem to prove it. Things go from bad to worse when a mysterious gastrointestinal ailment breaks out among the hospital's patients and staff.Is it evidence of the staff's incompetence or a deliberate act of poisoning? McIntosh, himself a physician, isn't afraid to show the dark underbelly of the medical field. The doctors at the Royal Infirmary and its sister hospital, St. Andrews, are a mixed bag--some nobly committed to helping patients, others vain and venal, and almost all with personal lives worthy of a soap opera. Consulting physician William Judd, for instance, is one of the noble ones, which initially puts him at odds with Savage's cost-cutting ways. But as crises pile up, each character realizes that they must work together for the good of everyone. McIntosh lays the drama on a bit too thick at times, and a few twists strain credulity, particularly a bumbling act of vengeance that leads to a key plot point.Aside from Savage, the book's villains are so broadly and cartoonishly drawn they're difficult to take seriously. Far more compelling is Judd, a well-intentioned doctor struggling to deal with situations beyond his control, who serves as the novel's moral center. American readers may also be a bit baffled by unfamiliar hospital terms and details about the United Kingdom's National Health Service. However, the general messages about managing bureaucracy and providing adequate patient care are universal.
An entertaining, if sometimes-troubling, look at the chaotic reality of a modern health care system.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"McIntosh, Colin: SAVAGE CUTS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Feb. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A527247966/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=06fa9ad6. Accessed 9 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A527247966