STAYING ALIVE – HOW TO GET THE BEST FROM THE NHS
In this committed and compassionate book, Phil Hammond – a doctor, journalist, campaigner and patient – argues for a bidet revolution in the NHS – from the bottom up, with patients leading the charge. What we can do for ourselves to live well often far outweighs what modern medicine and the NHS can do for us. And when we do need to use the NHS, getting involved, speaking up and sharing our expertise can improve not just our care, but the care of others. We won’t always succeed, but we can learn from failure as we try to get the best care possible in our precious and precarious health service.
Dr Phil shares his own experiences of working in and investigating the NHS for 30 years, and combines it with the experiences and tactics of inspirational patients and carers, some of who have survived and thrived in the NHS, some who are planning a gentle death at home and some who have suffered greatly but are determined to improve the NHS so others don’t have to suffer.
- The NHS is facing a crisis in care and a £30 billion black hole in its finances over 5 years. Politicians can’t fix it, but patients can.
- Of the things that can be changed to improve our health, 70% depend on the way we live, 30% depend on the right healthcare. Most lives need living, not medicalising.
- Getting the right care, right first time, improves both your life and the NHS for others – and patients can help to get it.
- An invaluable book for people who use and work in the NHS, and those who want to get by without it.
Author Biography
Phil Hammond is an NHS doctor, journalist, broadcaster and comedian. Phil has worked in general practice for over twenty years, and has also worked in sexual health. He currently works in a specialist NHS team for young people with chronic fatigue syndrome/ME. Phil presented five series of Trust Me, I’m a Doctor on BBC2, encouraging patients to be more involved, assertive and questioning, and has been a presenter for BBC Radio Bristol since 2007. He has been Private Eye’s medical correspondent since 1992, and appears regularly on national radio and television speaking up for patient power and a more honest and transparent NHS. This is his fifth book.
Reviews
‘Phil’s words are informative, always honest and insightful. He gives us salutary lessons in what to look for, what levels of care we should expect, and are entitled to, how the NHS should work, and what to do if it’s not working for you. But perhaps the real strength in this book is the way he lets other people tell their stories. Whenever a patient’s experience can illustrate his point, there is one. Often there are a few. Towards the end of the book there are several that will uplift you, empower you, and one in particular that will break your heart. Phil is not one to shy away from NHS failure; he wants us to know what to look out for, what to be wary of, as well as when to know that we are being cared for safely and well. He knows that only by being informed about what to watch out for can we, together with the people who work within the organization, make the NHS the brilliant thing it can and should be. The brilliant thing it mostly is. Every home should have a copy of Staying Alive. I wish he’d written it before I started my patient journey. I’m glad you have it before you start yours.’
Wendy Lee, writer and patient leader
With decades of clinical experience, an eye for the absurd and a creative way with mnemonics Phil Hammond is also a very good writer. Staying Alive is suffused with carefully chosen patients’ narratives which are much more than illustrative tinsel – they make the messages stick. At its serious heart this book is about safety, community, humanity and how to live. It’s full of memorable stories about what we can all do to keep ourselves, those we care for and those with whom we have no more than the most fleeting bus stop acquaintance, safe from harm. And a timely reminder to clock up at least 5 daily portions of fun (some of them with your GP, perhaps). Highly recommended
Sue Ziebland, Professor of Medical Sociology and director of the Health Experiences Research Group, Oxford
Phil has become trip-advisor, tour-guide, navigator and the writer of a new bible on good-care, bad-care and a general what’s-what in the NHS. We expect Phil to be light hearted and in this book, he is. We expect him to be razor sharp and he is. We expect him to know a thing or two about being a doctor and he does. Everything we expect is in this book and more. From your legal rights to the right way to approach a doctor (shake his hand), this book has it all. Life style advice, healthy living and what to do when it all goes wrong. From common-sense to cervical-screening. Chronic diseases and the time when pull yourself together might not be a bad idea.
Do we ever really know what care we should be getting? Few do. This book will make sure there are a good few more! There are real life tragedies in this book, patient experiences alongside good news of the success the NHS delivers on a daily basis. This book should be on prescription, required reading for every family in the land and be on the top shelf of the medicine cabinet. This book has it all. It is the Swiss Army Knife book of the NHS. Prepared for everything.
Roy Lilley, health writer, commentator and carer
‘I read it cover to cover in three days; it’s a brilliant book which all of us should read – patients and professionals.’
Dr Alf Collins, specialist in chronic pain and person-centred care
‘Enjoyable and very accessible, Hammond makes the argument for a new relationship between the patient /public and the NHS very powerfully. This argument is in my view vital for the future sustainability of the NHS and good health. CLANGERS is an approach to managing our own health and healthcare that could help the NHS and the people it serves’
Sir David Nicholson, former chief executive of NHS England and patient
‘A storming book. Everyone serious about keeping healthy or overcoming serious ill health should read this book. The call to patients to look after themselves and sort themselves out without NHS intervention is a powerful one.’
David Grant, cancer survivor and patient leader
“Dr Phil Hammond has the prescription for a healthier life for you and has some pretty good ideas on how the NHS could be improved for all of us. Recommended.”
Marian Nicholson, Director, Herpes Viruses Association.
Want to get the best from the NHS? How many strong, independent adults turn to shy, tongue-tied patients, and don’t ask questions for fear of seeming presumptuous. I did when my kids were ill – and I’m a doctor! Now Dr Phil Hammond has written a fabulous practical guide in his book Staying Alive – how to get the best from the NHS. Like me, he loves the NHS – but he knows we all need some help to navigate our way through it.
Dr Sarah Jarvis, GP, writer and doctor for The One Show and www.patient.co.uk
“If you use the NHS (i.e. all of you), you MUST read this book. If you’re a doctor you NEED to read this book. If you’re an NHS manager this book is VITAL”.
Dr Chris Steele, GP and doctor for ITV’s This Morning
“To describe “Staying Alive” as a bidet revolution does not do it justice. It is more colonic irrigation than bidet. Dr Phil wants to turn the NHS upside down and wash out the bureaucratic complexity that both infuriates and disempowers. He wants patients to be informed and powerful not ignorant and grateful. Ironically, he believes that it will be patients that save the NHS. Amen to that! ”
David Prior, Chair, Care Quality Commission
“Ever kicked yourself for not being clued up before going through something risky and serious? For missing opportunities to prevent something bad from happening? Phil Hammond’s here to run with you on a journey of powerful stories, stats and wisdom. The destination? An activated and informed patient that can see the big picture, ready to support those around them, and ready for the NHS.”
“This gives you a good understanding of what it’s like to be a patient, what you need and can do to get it right, and what doctors are afraid to tell you but wish you knew. Hammond says that falling into illness is like falling in a river, which ‘can lead to numbness, anger, denial and confusion. But when you’re ready, you need to stop treading water and learn how to swim.’ This is just how to do that, stop yourself from getting in the river in the first place, and best ask the NHS boat to pull you aboard.”
“Want to get an insight into what it’s like to be a patient? Want to be a better patient? Want to support patients better? Read this book. It also tells you how to stay alive and well. And that care workers and carers should not be meek and mild. We are advocates. This sums up the book – a manual on how to advocate for yourself and those you love.”
Tom Stocker, patient and activist
