Life Support: The state of the NHS in an age of pandemics

“A constructive critique of the NHS as it emerges from the pandemic that is both informed and accurate.” – Matt Hancock, <I>The House

“A truly insightful tour d’horizon” – Rt Hon. Jeremy Hunt MP, Secretary of State for Health, 2012–18

“Brilliant” – Sir Stephen Bubb, director of Charity Futures and the Oxford Institute of Charity

“A tour de force” – Niall Dickson CBE, former chief executive of The King’s Fund, the General Medical Council and the NHS Confederation

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How good is the NHS, really?

That is the question this book seeks to answer, as the health service emerges from the gravest crisis in its history with more money – but greater challenges – than ever before.

During the pandemic, voters made extraordinary sacrifices to save the NHS from collapse. Thanks to these efforts and the dedication and bravery of the NHS workforce, hospitals were able to treat patients with coronavirus, but millions of others lost out. Now an exhausted and depleted NHS workforce faces a huge backlog. The gap between supply and demand for publicly funded healthcare has never been so wide.

With record numbers waiting for treatment, the politicians’ answer has been to spend ever more taxpayers’ money. The question is whether throwing cash at the problem will work.

Every day, millions of patients receive care that is fair, good or outstanding. In keeping with Nye Bevan’s founding principles, the same treatment is available to rich and poor, free at the point of need. Public support for the concept remains overwhelming. Yet for every positive NHS experience there are negatives: care that is substandard, disjointed and arrives too late. A cult of secrecy surrounds errors and failings. Politicians on all sides dissemble and lie.

This book seeks to strip away the spin and uncover the true state of the NHS: the good, the bad and the ugly. It explores an increasingly urgent question: in an era of pandemics, can the NHS provide the quality of service patients deserve?

LORD ASHCROFT KCMG PC is an international businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster. He is a former treasurer and deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. He is also honorary chairman and a former treasurer of the International Democrat Union. He is founder and chairman of the board of trustees of Crimestoppers, vice-patron of the Intelligence Corps Museum, chairman of the trustees of Ashcroft Technology Academy, a senior fellow of the International Strategic Studies Association, a trustee of the Cleveland Clinic in the US, a former chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University and a former trustee of Imperial War Museums. His books include Victoria Cross Heroes: Volumes I and II; Call Me Dave: The Unauthorised Biography of David Cameron; White Flag? An Examination of the UK’s Defence Capability; Jacob’s Ladder: The Unauthorised Biography of Jacob Rees-Mogg; Going for Broke: The Rise of Rishi Sunak; Unfair Game: An Exposé of South Africa’s Captive-Bred Lion Industry; Red Knight: The Unauthorised Biography of Sir Keir Starmer; and Falklands War Heroes: Extraordinary True Stories of Bravery in the South Atlantic.

ISABEL OAKESHOTT is an award-winning political journalist and commentator. She was political editor of the Sunday Times and co-wrote White Flag? An Examination of the UK’s Defence Capability with Michael Ashcroft; Farmageddon: The True Cost of Cheap Meat with Philip Lymbery; and various other non-fiction titles. She writes for The Spectator, the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday and regularly appears on television.