Our NHS: A History of Britain's Best Loved Institution

by Andrew Seaton

An engaging, inclusive history of the NHS, exploring its surprising survival—and the people who have kept it running
 
In recent decades, a wave of appreciation for the NHS has swept across the UK. Britons have clapped for frontline workers and championed the service as a distinctive national achievement. All this has happened in the face of ideological opposition, marketization, and workforce crises. But how did the NHS become what it is today?
 
In this wide-ranging history, Andrew Seaton examines the full story of the NHS. He traces how the service has changed and adapted, bringing together the experiences of patients, staff from Britain and abroad, and the service’s wider supporters and opponents. He explains not only why it survived the neoliberalism of the late twentieth century but also how it became a key marker of national identity. Seaton emphasizes the resilience of the NHS—perpetually “in crisis” and yet perennially enduring—as well as the political values it embodies and the work of those who have tirelessly kept it afloat.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

400 pages, Hardcover

First published August 22, 2023

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an engaging and thoughtful examination of Britain’s National Health Service. It’s written by a historian and is well researched and documented but reads more like a newspaper account. The author traces how the NHS has changed and adapted in different decades and under different governments. He explains not only why it survived and changed during the Thatcher years and then under the neoliberal Blair years but especially how it became a central part of British National identity to the point where its birthday is celebrated every July 5. I got this book at Toppings in Edinburgh and really enjoyed it.

[Ginger Webb · Rating 2 out of 5]

A weak book, based on academic fence sitting. There’s really not much depth to what Seaton sets out, and his underlying analysis of trends is anaemic.

All he really says is that the NHS has managed to survive despite attempts to dismantle it over the years - well, we know that. A lot of time is spent considering whether measures introduced by the Conservative and New Labour parties should be termed privatisation. Who cares? The issue, surely, is what effect they have had.

The book is neither a full blown history nor a proper assessment of what has happened to the NHS, and there are lots of gaps in its coverage. Not a single mention of the disappearance of free prescriptions or free dental care, for instance. I’m no expert on the NHS but I felt I learned little new by reading it.

[Alison Cockerill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Very readable and interesting.

[Katarina · Rating 5 out of 5]

An eye-opening , concise history of the NHS, of both the struggles and successes it has survived through to still be operating today.