Description

A WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2023: POPULAR SCIENCE

What Is a Doctor? is a vital contribution to the ongoing debate about how we maintain an NHS that is both fit for purpose and free.

Taking insight from his thirty-year career as a GP, Dr Whitaker offers a unique perspective on the medical movements and societal changes that have transformed the role of doctor, and suggests what could be done to save the future of the NHS.

Publisher Review

A powerful account of what has happened to the bedrock of the NHS, the GP system . . . The book is essential – and highly readable — HENRY MARSH * * New Statesman * * If the NHS is to survive as a model of health-care for another 75 years, it needs thinkers and champions like Dr Whitaker — KATHRYN MANNIX, author of WITH THE END IN MIND Phil Whitaker knows the business of being a doctor inside out, and his moving and thought-provoking memoir is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of the NHS — DAVID NOTT, bestselling author of WAR DOCTOR With meticulous analysis, deep vocational understanding and a palpable compassion for the human stories at the heart of all this, What Is a Doctor? is an essential intervention in the urgent conversation about the future of healthcare in this country — POLLY MORLAND, author of A FORTUNATE WOMAN Calm, knowledgeable, and clear, Phil Whitaker is the GP everyone would like to have, and his prescription for the health service is full of wisdom and kindness — GAVIN FRANCIS, author of ADVENTURES IN HUMAN BEING and RECOVERY This remarkable book shares profound insights into many of the problems facing modern medicine and offers a hopeful way forward – resuscitating the humanity that healthcare desperately needs. Simply brilliant — SIR DAVID HASLAM, past chair of NICE and author of SIDE EFFECTS If just one member of the government could be persuaded to read this book, there might be hope for a reinvigorated NHS and for its beleaguered professionals and its worried patients — IONA HEATH, President of the Royal College of General Practitioners 2009-2012