Author to visit Nantwich to talk about history of NHS

Author Andrew Seaton will talk about his first book “Our NHS” at Nantwich Bookshop & Coffee Lounge on August 22.

Andrew trained in the UK and US, holding a PhD in History from New York University, an MA in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine from King’s College London, and a BA in History from University of Oxford.

He is currently the Plumer Junior Research Fellow in History at St Anne’s College, University of Oxford.

His new book examines the full story of the NHS.

He traces how the service has changed and adapted, bringing together the experiences of patients, staff from Britain and abroad, and the service’s wider supporters and opponents.

He explains not only why it survived the neoliberalism of the late 20th century but also how it became a key marker of national identity.

Seaton emphasizes the resilience of the NHS – perpetually “in crisis” and yet perennially enduring – as well as the political values it embodies and the work of those who have tirelessly kept it afloat.

He said: “Like almost all people born in Britain, I was delivered by someone working for the National Health Service (NHS).

“My mother worked as a care assistant in an elderly residential home, and then as an NHS cleaner. Two of her sisters were nurses.

“Later, while at home in Exeter during the vacations from my undergraduate degree, I cleaned the wards of that same hospital.

“One day, while mopping a chiropody unit, I paused and watched from afar as a large digger demolished the ward I had been born in.

“The buildings changed, yet this thing I knew as ‘The NHS’ continued.

“By training, historians are rarely encouraged to place themselves in their research.

“The pursuit of objectivity – in reality, an impossible task – was baked into the discipline’s professionalisation during the nineteenth century.

“Some historians simply think it vain.

“Yet, if you grew up in Britain, it is difficult not to relate oneself with the history of the NHS, which, as my own experiences testify, has touched the lives of nearly everyone in the country since its establishment.

“The inspiration for this book came from watching the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympic Games in 2012, where the NHS featured prominently.

“Why, I wondered, was a medical system so important to projections of British identity?

“And why had the NHS lasted long enough to take on this importance, when other parts of the postwar welfare state or public industries had fallen away?”

Andrew trawled through folders of documents, tracked down episodes of long-cancelled television programmes, and pored over piles of photos.

The resulting book interrogates the history of what is frequently described today in Britain as ‘Our NHS’.

Tickets for his talk which starts at 6.30pm are £20 (£25 for a double) which includes a copy of ‘Our NHS’ and a welcoming drink.

To reserve a ticket call 01270 611665, email [email protected] or visit Nantwich Bookshop & Coffee Lounge at 46 High Street in Nantwich.