As a qualified doctor and stand-up comedian Phil Hammond works both sides of the fence.

He qualified as a doctor in 1987 but, for the past decade, he has combined his work as a GP and consultant for the NHS with a range of TV and radio programmes, magazine articles and stand-up routines satirising the institution he works for.

He was one half of Struck Off And Die, who had five sell-out shows at the Edinburgh fringe. He presented Trust Me, I'm A Doctor on BBC 2 and exposed wide variations in care across the NHS for just about every treatment.

He currently works as a clinical assistant in sexual health medicine, expertise he put to use in HTV's A To Z Of Rude Health earlier this year.

But Dr Hammond's transition into a satirist and stand-up comedian came almost as a by-product of his frustration with the health service.

"Around 1990, I was very angry about some of the things I had seen in hospitals and I started to ranting about it on stage, almost as a form of personal therapy."

Phil doesn't lay all the blame at the door of the Government, however. He believes the public must share responsibility for the state of the NHS.

Or as Dr. Hammond puts it: "Can any health service cope with a nation of accident-prone lard-buckets? And does anyone really care about the NHS or their relatives?"

I asked how these kind of observations went down with the typically dissolute audiences at comedy clubs.

"People seem to accept it. We blame the government for the failings of the NHS but on the other hand, we get the health service we're prepared to pay for."

As for unhealthy lifestyles, Phil is equivocal: "I don't want to be judgmental. We're a nation that smokes and drinks and takes drugs.

"Some of the best music and art has come out of that kind of environment. Bad habits make us human and I find that preferable to a nation of hypochondriacs.

"An overabundance of health awareness campaigns have filled our waiting rooms with healthy people who have convinced themselves there's something wrong with them. A GP friend said he wants to start an alternative CAMRA - the Campaign for Real Ailments."

Phil cites the late Bill Hicks, whom he saw perform live at the Edinburgh Fringe, and Mark Thomas as examples of the kind of comedy he admires - dark, funny and truthful, with a political dimension missing, in his view, from much contemporary comedy.

Phil has worked occasionally for the Royal Sussex County Hospital. I asked if his experiences there were likely to surface in his material.

"Perhaps. I often talk to friends working at the local hospital of the town I'm performing in a day or two beforehand. Often they provide me with a source of material."

And how do medical staff tend to respond to his satirical take on the profession?

"Doctors have their own internet chatrooms. When I log-in, I often find my name being taken in vain there."

For tickets, call 01273 685861.

Preview by Jay Clifton, features@theargus.co.uk