The Running of Hospitals

Book excerpt: The Running of Hospitals is a collection of nearly 30 articles on various aspects of the National Health Service published during one of the major reforming periods in UK healthcare, from 1965 until 1985. Written by a former senior hospital and healthcare administrator who was taken on soon after the NHS was set up in 1948, the essays begin during the first Labour Government of Harold Wilson and reflect the growth of the health service through the premierships of Wilson, Edward Heath and James Callaghan up to the early years of Margaret Thatcher. For students, administrators, healthcare workers and anyone interested in the history of the NHS, this book, which brings together for the first time in a single volume some of the most noteworthy articles by one of the profession’s senior figures, will be a welcome addition to the literature on the subject.