Andy Stein's book is essential reading for anyone with a passion for our NHS.

Books Monthly

Right from the start, I have to say that the NHS is a staggeringly huge machine, the way it runs and keeps going, and advancing over the years to help the public, it is just phenomenal example of how a huge medical service should be run. Yes you can always try and improve some things and it will always need lots of money but in my opinion, the NHS is genius.

This book explains about how from the very beginning of the NHS how it's structured, the disciplines involved and how they have been adapted. The buildings, the staffing, the structure and the modernisation over the years, the way it has been funded, and how it needs to roll forward with each year etc. It’s a fascinating book and you can understand something this size has been left to numerous governments who have then tried to force their ideas up on it. All I can say is that the NHS is one of the most prominent things in life in this country and even the rest of the world admires what it does. So from someone who has had a stroke and problems with my right knee, I love the NHS and I loved reading this book, I would think those wanting to move into the care/nursing profession would get a lot out of this as I did.

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The History Fella

I wish this book had been available when I was applying to medical school. Dr Andrew Stein, a consultant renal and general physician, has produced a highly comprehensive guide to the NHS, at an affordable retail price. ‘Understanding the NHS’ has been written for future and newly qualified health and social care professionals, and the interested general public. I certainly would have found the chapters on research and public health, and even the acronym buster, useful at an early career stage. The author highlights salient topics such as the association between mental and physical health, and the importance of tackling deprivation. Having worked in the NHS for nearly 20 years, I was still able to learn something new from the book including, ironically, the ‘veil of ignorance’...

I feel this book is a significant achievement. Dr Stein has distilled salient information about a hugely complex system into an accessible and comprehensive guide. From podiatry, to prescription charges to PREMs (patient reported experience measures), there is everything the reader needs to understand the NHS in England.

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Medical Journalists' Association

As featured in the Express, 'NHS waiting list backlog 'won't be solved by reforms''.

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The Express, 13th March 2022

As featured in the Express, 'The five steps to getting NHS off life support and back to health'.

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The Express, 9th January 2022