Gavin Francis

Gavin Francis on Free for All

This September we look forward to welcoming the ever-insightful Gavin Francis to St Andrews for his newest compassionate and timely book, Free for All: Why the NHS is Worth Saving.

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 transformed the lives and health of millions, for free. For those who believe in the future of the NHS and its founding principles, this is essential reading from the bestselling author of Recovery.

Dr Gavin Francis has worked across four continents as a surgeon, emergency physician, medical officer with the British Antarctic Survey and latterly as a GP. He's the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Adventures in Human Being and Recovery, as well as Shapeshifters, and Intensive Care. He also writes for the Guardian, The Times, the London Review of Books and Granta.

From his whimsical Island Dreams to the scrutinising treatise Intensive Care, one is sure to find a title of his to love.