Rachel Clarke

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Rachel Clarke (born 1972 as Rachel Rendall) is a British doctor and writer who specializes in palliative and end-of-life care. She works at Great Western Hospital in England.

Early life and career
Before becoming a doctor, Clarke worked as a broadcast journalist, making documentaries for Channel 4 and the BBC about topics such as Al Qaeda, the Gulf War, and the Congo civil war. She began medical school in 2003 and qualified as a doctor in 2009. Clarke became well known for campaigning against the UK government’s junior doctor contract in 2015–2016 and for speaking out during the COVID-19 pandemic, including appearing on Question Time.

Books
- Your Life in My Hands (2017): a memoir about her early career as a junior doctor.
- Dear Life (2020): about death and end-of-life care; shortlisted for Costa Book Awards.
- Breathtaking (2021): about the NHS during the first wave of COVID-19; basis for a TV series.
- The Story of a Heart (2024): won the 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.

Personal life
Clarke was born in Wiltshire to a GP father and a nurse mother. She has a twin sister and a brother, and she is married to Dave, a pilot.