Cover photograph – Health and Heartbreak: Healthcare Before the NHS
A Gloucestershire author has had her book, ‘Health and Heartbreak – Healthcare Before the NHS’, published in February this year.
Radio Horton’s resident Live at Three presenter, Liz MacLeod took the opportunity to speak with author, Jeannie Duckworth about the release of her book, and to find out what healthcare was like in Britain, prior to 1948. Listen back below.
Pre-NHS, healthcare in Britain was a hit and miss affair with quality dependent on your wealth, and even if you could afford a doctor, or a stay in hospital, your recovery was, to an extent, determined by luck as medical knowledge was still fairly rudimentary.
Former teacher, Jeannie Duckworth, of Stinchcombe, takes the reader into the harrowing world of early 20th century healthcare in the UK. The author said about her title: “Some of my research involved talking to people who had actually lived through these changes and had memories of a world long gone!”
Talking of health care within that period, Jeannie goes on to say: “Disease was rampant, accidents commonplace, diet poor and physical and mental handicaps not understood or tolerated”
Her book emphasises the importance of the NHS in today’s society and how far healthcare has developed. The gradual introduction of drugs, hygiene, diet and financially accessible care are outlined in this very informative read.
The book is available at all popular retailers including Amazon, Waterstones, WHSmith and Foyles, as well as an Amazon Kindle edition.
Listen back to the Live At Three interview with Jeannie below:
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