Scars & Stains

Airway. Breathing. Circulation. Disability. Exposure. Perhaps the five most misunderstood words in life support.


Join anaesthetics and intensive care doctor, and award-winning writer Dr Mark ZY Tan, as he lays bare the clinical, ethical, and moral dilemmas facing intensive care professionals in today’s complex world. Scars and Stains takes readers into the world of intensive care, where split-second decisions and precise skills can forever impact the lives of patients and their families. It is a journey that crosses continents, communities, and cultures – from the slums of Thailand and jungles of Papua New Guinea to the wealthiest districts of London and largest hospitals in the UK. Caring for some of the most unwell patients, with the help of high-tech machinery, and often in emotionally volatile situations, Mark provides moving – and often eye-opening – insights into this fascinating frontier of medicine. He brings together the science underpinning this high-stakes specialty with the humanity required to navigate life and death decisions.

Written for anyone interested in the reality of life on the frontline, the book challenges preconceived notions of the ICU, sheds light on the often-misunderstood realities faced by patients, their loved ones, and healthcare professionals in the most challenging of environments, and guides readers in considering their own preferences and priorities when faced with life-limiting illnesses.

Foreword by Matt Morgan, author of Critical (2020) and One Medicine (2023)

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Reviews

Sometimes invigorating and buoyant, sometimes raw and confronting, this deeply moving insight into the life of an intensive care doctor will stay with readers long after they have put their copy down. Mark Tan writes with literary eloquence, disarming frankness, but above all with spellbinding humanity. Dr Anna Greenwood, Professor of Health History, University of Nottingham. Co-author: Florence Nightingale at Home (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), winner of the National People’s Book Prize, ‘Best Achievement’ 2021-2022.

A true gem, for once taken up it’s hard to put down. It’s not meant for the faint-hearted or those who desire a happy ending, though one can detect an undercurrent of hope throughout… Here’s the story behind the story, finely tuned and refreshingly painted. Dr Andrew Goh, Editor-in-chief, Impact Magazine Asia, Emeritus chairman, World Vision (Singapore) & Halogen Foundation Singapore

The pages contain the flame of human resilience and the warmth of abundant wisdom. This is a book not just for those interested in intensive care or those thinking more deeply about critical illness, dying, and death. It is also for those keen to discover the true cost of survival, and live in light of such knowledge. Dr Wes Ely, Professor of Medicine & Critical Care, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Author: Every Deep Drawn Breath (Winner of the 2022 Christopher award)

Well written and readily accessible… it is the human stories that make this book compelling. This book is very timely given the ongoing COVID inquiry in the UK. Prof Tony Redmond OBE, Professor Emeritus of International Emergency Medicine, University of Manchester. Author: Frontline – Stories of Care and Courage in Emergency Medicine (HarperNorth).

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in getting behind the closed curtains of intensive care. Dr Steve Taylor, GP and spokesperson for Doctors’ Association UK

An honest and insightful book into the unknown world of intensive care. Mark accurately describes the travails and jubilations of a UK resident intensive care doctor on the shop floor. Both joyful and sad at the same time and beautifully written. Dr Shondipon Laha, Intensive Care Society (UK) President (24-26)


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About the Author Mark ZY Tan is an intensive care doctor based in Manchester. He has won 1st and 3rd prizes for the Doctors for the NHS essay competitions (2023 and 2021, respectively), 1st and joint 2nd prize for the Society of Medical Writers’ non-fiction competition in 2022, and 2nd prize for the Health Education England essay competition 2021.