Stories from the Front Line: The People Behind the NHS Headlines [Hardback]

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Stories from the Front Line: The People Behind the NHS Headlines

by Yvonne Bennett (Canterbury Christ Church University), Christina Stead

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Bennett and Stead provide a well-researched and detailed account of the issues in elder care in NHS Scotland, but this discussion will resonate across the UK. The storytelling is compelling, moving, and highly relatable to those with older family members who are failed by the NHS.

This is an important, timely, and significant critique of how medical interventions can cause harm at the time when care and compassion are required in the later stages of people's lives. The authors point to under-funding as a legacy of austerity programmes, a context which makes front-line staff ill, and systemic issues created by dysfunctional managerialism that diminishes patient voices.

The most intriguing conclusion the authors confront us with is that at the same time as revering the concept of the NHS we contribute to its decline in provision by having low expectations of what it can deliver.

Dr Sharon Jagger
School of Humanities
York St. John University

This is an impressive piece of research, which highlights how storytelling can be utilised to provide new insights on a topic that some people might find difficult to discuss. This book perfectly blends narration and academia like a good coffee. In this book, ‘Stories from the Front Line’ by Dr Bennet and Dr Stead discuss their and others' personal (and some heartbreaking) experiences of critical care in relation to NHS Scotland, as well as providing recommendations for future practice. Highly recommended!

Dr Nicole Holt
School of Allied and Public Health Professionals
Canterbury Christ Church University

"Stories from the Front Line: The People Behind the NHS Headlines” is an analysis of the policies and practices of the National Health Service Scotland (NHS) with regard to geriatric care. The contributors delve into the risks the elderly face with iatrogenic disease and offer recommendations for policy changes and improvements. The editors of the book, who belong to the sandwich generation, employ an ethnographic framework for their comprehensive future-oriented analysis and carefully situate the traumatic personal stories that form the foundation of the book without reducing the experiences and stories of the elderly. “Stories from the Front Line: The People Behind the NHS Headlines” is a must-read for healthcare providers, policymakers, and academics alike, and it offers forward-thinking recommendations with its comprehensive coverage ranging from TikTok posts and comments, case studies and critical analysis.

Dr. Ayşe Çirçir
Department of Physical therapy and rehabilitation
Faculty of Health Sciences
Erzurum Technical University, Turkey

This is a much-needed and welcomed book, rich and diverse, exploring and examining ‘elderly’ care, both by those employed as well as families and individuals experiencing the National Health Service (NHS). The authors' approach to their study successfully captures the raw, poignant and emotive experiences as they navigate the reader through the stories from the frontline. The stories, whilst contextualised in NHS Scotland, with a particular focus on the new Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow, argue that the stories translate across the devolved nations within the NHS. NHS in England and Wales, as well as health care provision in other countries that have a similar health care model, have widened the discussion, underpinned by theory and relevant research of geriatric care, experiences, and the risk the elderly face with iatrogenic disease. As highlighted by the author/s, there was the concern to ensure they did justice to those whose stories were told. By giving voice to the People Behind the NHS Headline, they have managed to capture both the insider experiences of those within (including themselves) and the injustices felt by the participants, as well as the outsider view purposefully and constructively raising awareness of the issues in NHS Scotland experience.

Dr Amanda Norman
Department of Education and Childhood Studies
University of Winchester

NHS Scotland appears to be in crisis. Today the British media is full of headlines such as “89-year-old great-grandmother waits 5 hours for an ambulance.” These are a talking point for a day or two and then another headline of a similar ilk takes over. This book examines the traumatic experiences of the elderly people whose stories make up these headlines. The authors have carried out research into the effects of long waiting times for ambulances and the problems that NHS Scotland is facing through chronic staff shortages. The waits and the limitations to patient care have long term implications for the patients, the relatives and the staff. Throughout the book we discuss iatrogenic disease/harm that is occurring daily for patients, visitors and staff.

The book concentrates on the new Glasgow hospital, The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, which opened its doors in 2015. This is one of the largest hospitals in Europe and replaces 5 older Glasgow hospitals and has been beset by major problems since its opening. By interviewing relatives and staff, the authors have examined their experiences both during and following a traumatic event. Themes found throughout the book include poor communication, trauma, low staff morale, suicide and the problems caused by the size and design of the hospital.

The authors have also analysed statistics from NHS Scotland and Scottish Ambulance Service regarding waiting times and the use of agency staff. The overarching goal of this book was to give a voice to those behind the statistics.

Yvonne Bennett obtained her BA and MA through the Open University. On leaving school, she trained as a nurse and, after having her children, retrained as a nursery schoolteacher. Yvonne has completed a PhD at Canterbury Christ Church University. Her research area of interest is conservative Presbyterianism in the Gàidhealtachd (Highlands and Islands) of Scotland. In 2021 she published a book which examines the ways in which churches in Britain help the vulnerable in their communities. The book 'The Church Who Needs It? We Do!' examines the difficulties a group of South London women experience with Universal Credit and life under lockdown during the Coronavirus pandemic. In 2022, Yvonne edited a book, 'Women and Religion in Britain Today' belonging to Vernon Press.

Christina Stead studied History at Durham University and then worked as an academic administrator and manager for a university in London. After a period working in educational consultancy, Christina took a career break when her daughter was born in 2004. Seeking new challenges, she volunteered in her local community and then retrained as a careers counsellor, gaining an MA (Distinction) from Canterbury Christ Church University in 2014. Christina was awarded a scholarship by the university to pursue doctoral research. Her PhD (2020) explored the career paths of senior professional women in accountancy, education and medicine. She is currently working as a mentor to a student who is completing a doctorate in Nursing. She is also a school governor with a brief that includes safeguarding.

narrative, social policy, elderly, iatrogenic harm, nursing studies, communication, bias, National Health Service, Scottish Government, negligence, constructivist, epistemological, ethics, ethnographic, memory, narrative, objectivity, ontology, reality, reflexivity, relativist, storytelling, subjective, trauma, TikTok, suicide, whislteblower, DNR, semi-structured interviews, Alzheimers Disease, policy