Dr Jim Down is a consultant in Intensive Care and Anaesthesia at University College London Hospitals and author of two books: ‘Life Support, Diary of an ICU Doctor on the Frontline of the Covid Crisis’ (Viking, Penguin 2021) and ‘Life in the Balance, A Doctor’s Stories of Intensive Care.’ (Viking, Penguin 2023).

He is Trust clinical lead for organ donation, chair of the Hospital Guidelines Committee and the departmental weekly scientific meetings and is consultant representative on the Trust Wellbeing committee. He was previously divisional director of the Intensive Care Unit and chair of the consultants’ group.

His interests include medical ethics and law, clinical decision-making, staff mental health and medical storytelling. In 2023, he gave the Aneurin Bevan Lecture at the Hay-on-Wye literary festival, and in 2024 delivered a TEDx Lecture in Manchester

He lives in North London with his wife and sixteen-year-old twins and can be found most mornings shivering at his local Lido.