Organising care around patients is not for the fainthearted. Naomi Chambers and Jeremy Taylors have curated twenty-five accounts from people who agreed to tell the story of what happened when they or their loved ones came into contact with the NHS. The authors defy you not to laugh or cry, or hold your breath in disbelief, at some point when reading this book.

In these true and compelling accounts, we learn the experiences - good and bad - of people grappling with birth and death, caring for loved ones, living with mental illness, coping with long-term conditions, and struggling in older age. This book is a call to action aimed at healthcare professionals, managers and politicians: a manifesto for more patient-centred care.

These stories show the NHS at its very best - and also when it falls significantly short. Patients or carers currently battling with the system will derive some hope and encouragement, and clues about what to expect, what to ask for, and from whom.

Reviews

'This timely and important book does exactly what it says in its title - it places patients at the centre, enables their stories to be told and heard, and explores what these insights mean for the organisation of health and care services. That this book is so necessary and hard-hitting underlines how much more remains to be done to bring about person-centred care.'
Judith Smith, Director of Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham

'I have a real fear that despite the best intentions of most health professionals, pressures in the NHS are resulting in care which is increasingly more transactional and less personalised. This fear keeps me awake at night because a health system which doesn't have patients at its heart won't work. This book challenges and inspires the reader to get us to a better place.'
Martin Marshall, Chair Royal College of General Practitioners and GP in Newham, East London

'There is no health system on the planet that can maintain its sustainability without patients as partners and communities as carers. This book is a timely reminder of this truth.'
Mark Britnell, Vice-Chair and Global Health Expert, KPMG UK

'This book is a timely reminder of the gap between what is convenient for an organization, on one hand, and patient and family values, rights, and autonomy on the other. The text touches on further topics, such as funding, staff shortages, and future trends. The book is a call to action for health care providers to organize their attitudes, practices, and behaviors around patient-centered care.'
Choice
Reprinted with permission from Choice Reviews. All rights reserved. Copyright by the American Library Association.

1 Introduction
2 Pregnancy and childbirth
3 Children and young people
4 Managing a long-term health condition as an adult
5 Adult acute care and cancer
6 Mental health and mental illness
7 Older age and end of life
8 Conclusion

Further practical resources
Appendix: Anonymised list of interviewees and background details
Index

Authors

Naomi Chambers is Professor of Healthcare Management at the University of Manchester

Jeremy Taylor is Director for Public Voice at the National Institute for Health Research