What Is a Doctor?: A GP's Prescription for the Future

What Is a Doctor? is a vital contribution to the ongoing debate about  how we maintain an NHS that is both fit for purpose and free. Using  stories and case studies from across his thirty-year career as a GP, Dr  Phil Whitaker offers insight into the medical movements, political  interference and societal changes that have transformed the role of  doctor over the past three decades.

Much has altered for the  better but, even when based on good intentions, an equal or greater  amount has been damaging and threatens the sustainability of the NHS. In  examining what it means to be a doctor today, this book also answers an  accompanying question 'what is a patient?' - and how we can all take a  more active role in our healthcare. And, looking forward, Dr Whitaker  describes what might yet be done to restore the NHS and its capacity for  properly patient-centred care.