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

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