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Swift Press nets former health secretary Jeremy Hunt’s debut book
Swift Press has scooped MP and former health secretary Jeremy Hunt’s debut book, Zero: Eliminating unnecessary deaths in a post-pandemic NHS.
Mark Richards, publisher, bought UK and commonwealth rights from Jonny Geller at Curtis Brown, for publication in e-book, audio and hardback on 24th May. It will also be serialised in the Times and Sunday Times on the weekend of 14th and 15th May.
Hunt announced his book this morning (12th May) in the Farnham Herald. He said it is “not a memoir...nor an attempt to present my time in office in a positive light”, but “a book that talks about how we need to change and improve the culture of the NHS”. It is in his words both a product of three lockdowns and something he started working on seven years ago when he was health secretary.
“It looks at some of the problems in today’s NHS and seeks to do something few books about contemporary affairs actually do, namely to answer the question: So what should we actually do to solve the issues we face?,” he said.
“Although necessarily subjective, I have tried to be honest about the things I failed to achieve as well as the areas where I was more successful.”
The announcement follows Matt Hancock’s Pandemic Diaries, which will be published by Biteback in October.
Hunt was elected as the Conservative MP for South West Surrey in 2005 and was secretary of state for health between September 2012 and July 2018, making him the longest-serving health secretary in history. He is the current chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee.
Richards said: “Zero is a book that, with honesty and openness, looks at some of the biggest challenges facing the NHS. Rooted in the stories of individual patients and families, and in Jeremy Hunt’s own experiences as the longest-serving heath secretary in history, it goes beyond the party political to propose concrete solutions to those challenges. Encompassing everything from culture to technology to staffing, it provides a blueprint for the renewal of this great national institution.”
Hunt will appear on radio and television in the week of 16th May. He will also be at the Hay Festival with Rachel Clarke on Friday 27th May.
