HarperCollins signs Patterson's urgent manifesto to save the NHS

HarperCollins imprint Mudlark has acquired Critical: Why the NHS is being betrayed and how we can fight for it by NHS campaigner Dr Julia Grace Patterson.

World all-language rights were acquired directly from the author by HarperNonFiction senior commissioning editor Anna Mrowiec and will be published on 22nd June, ahead of the NHS’s 75th anniversary in July.

In Critical, Patterson reveals “the eye-opening true story of how the NHS has reached breaking point”, the publisher said.

The synopsis continues: “Underfunded and understaffed, with patient services decimated and the infiltration of privatisation, the NHS moves further away from its founding principles every day. Failed by consecutive governments and stretched to its limit, we are in danger of losing the institution we most depend upon.

“This powerful book is a call-to-arms for anyone who believes the NHS is worth saving. With first-hand insight, Dr Patterson reveals not only what has gone wrong, but how we can start to fix it. Her manifesto for change presents transformational ideas inspired by her own experience and the daily stories she hears from those on the frontline. This is a book for the nation that relies on the NHS every day, for the exhausted staff who keep it running and for the politicians who have let it down.”

Patterson is the founder and chief executive of EveryDoctor, a non-profit organisation she established in 2019 with the belief that doctors have the power to end the NHS crisis. They have taken the government to court and through numerous national campaigns have helped to secure policy change. Patterson qualified as a doctor in 2010 but is not working clinically, having devoted herself full-time to campaigning. This is her first book.

She said: “The situation in the NHS has never been more critical. Waiting lists are the longest on record, staff are under unbelievable pressure, and patients up and down the country are unable to access the healthcare they need. It is time to face up to what politicians have done to the NHS, come together, and demand action.”

Mrowiec called the book crucial. "Even those of us who consider ourselves well-informed on the state of our healthcare system will be shocked and appalled by the revelations within it, but the overall message is one of hope," she said. "Julia’s inspiring work with EveryDoctor means she is perfectly placed to write this book, which highlights what the collective power of passionate supporters can achieve. I believe it could be the catalyst to inspiring real change.”