Why Can’t I See My GP?: The Past, Present and Future of General Practice

A timely look at the state of the National Health Service in the UK, from its creation in 1948 to today.

General practice in the United Kingdom has reached a crisis point. The COVID-19 pandemic has strained an already crumbling primary care service, leaving both patients and National Health Service (NHS) staff struggling.
 
Seventy-five years after the creation of the NHS, Dr. Ellen Welch lifts the curtain on general practice. She looks back on the profession before the NHS, Aneurin Bevan’s role in the creation of the service, how the job has changed in the intervening years—particularly since the pandemic—and what the future of the profession might look like.
 
The book features personal accounts from general practitioners, including Dr. Aman Amir and Dr. Neena Jha, alongside key insights from health writer Ellie Philpotts and commentator Roy Lilley. Together, those on the frontline try to answer the question: how did we get here? And what can be done to make things better for us all in the future?

Ellen Welch is a general practitioner and cochair of the Doctors’ Association UK. She is the author of several books, including How the NHS Coped with Covid-19, The NHS: The Story So Far, and The NHS at 70: A Living History.