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Free For All

Why The NHS Is Worth Saving

Book cover of 'Free For All' by Gavin Francis

Timely, thought-provoking and eloquent... brimming both with warmth and insight.

Janice Turner, The Times

Britain’s health service is dying. Gavin Francis shows us why we should fight for it.

Since its birth in 1948, the powers that be have chipped away at the NHS. Now Britain’s best-loved institution is under greater threat than ever, besieged by a deadly combination of underfunding, understaffing and the predatory private sector.

In the wake of the pandemic, we have come to accept a “new normal” of permanent crisis and years-long waiting lists. But, as Gavin Francis reveals in this short, vital book, it doesn’t have to be this way, and until recently, it wasn’t.

Drawing on the history of the NHS as well as his own experience as a GP, he introduces us to the inner workings of an institution that has never been perfect, but which has transformed the lives and health of millions for free – and which has never been more important.

For those who believe in the future of the NHS and its founding principles, this is essential reading from the bestselling author of ‘Recovery’ and ‘Intensive Care’.

Read an extract from the book

Date published
Format
Paperback
Extent
192 pages
ISBN
9781800819252

About the author

Photograph of Gavin Francis

Gavin Francis

Gavin Francis is a GP and the author of eleven books of non-fiction including Adventures in Human Being (2015) Shapeshifters (2018), Intensive Care (2021), Recovery: the Lost Art of Convalescence (2022) and Free For All (2023) - a passionate defence of the principles of the NHS. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and the Royal College of General Practitioners. His books have been translated into twenty languages. His latest book, The Unfragile Mind, examines mental health, arguing for greater curiosity, humility, kindness, and hope in approaches to psychiatric diagnosis.