Yes, Health Minister by Sonya Leff
This is a revealing, insider's view of the changes within the NHS during the last 40 years. Dr Sonya Leff's startling account of her experiences (in public and child health) is extremely relevant today. "Yes, Health Minister" is the story of one woman doctor's experience of the changes within the NHS from the 1960s (and the effects of the sexual revolution) to the continuing impact of the "market forces" changes (introduced by Margaret Thatcher's government). This entertaining autobiography is based on Dr Leff's clinical experiences and her personal observations on critical health issues that are still vitally important today. During her medical training in the early 60s, Dr Leff saw first-hand the misery caused by illegal abortions and the lack of access to contraception. She campaigned for "every child to be a wanted child". She pushed for a relaxation in the institutional regime in children's homes, and for every child to have equal access to education regardless of disability. Dr Leff and her Indian husband, saw multiculturalism at its best and worst in London in the 60s, and Dr Leff became deeply involved in the education and health of black children, mixed-race adoption/fostering, inter-country adoption and the working life of ethnic minority health workers. Sonya Leff's expertise led to her becoming a policy adviser at the Department of Health itself. Many of the tenets of public and child health that we take for granted today were hard-won by people like Sonya Leff. Not only is this a fascinating autobiography, this is also a book for anyone who wants to understand more about the roots of today's NHS and health care policies.
Dr Sonia Leff was born into a campaigning family; her parents had promoted the idea of a national health service in the 1930s and, while still at school, Dr Leff took part in the first Aldermaston March against nuclear weapons. She graduated as a doctor 1963, then began her life-long specialisation in public health and child health. She worked in London in the 1960s before moving to Lewes in Sussex (where she still lives). Dr Leff served on several national medical committees and spent a year on secondment at the Department of Health. She is a Foundation Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics, an Elected Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine at the Royal College of Medicine and a Life Fellow of the Royal Institute of Public Health. Dr Leff has written numerous health care publications for Heinemann, Penguin, the NHS and the BBC as well as for many public health and medical journals.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781846240157 |
| ISBN 10 | 1846240158 |
| Title | Yes, Health Minister |
| Author | Sonya Leff |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Book Guild Publishing Ltd |
| Year published | 2006-07-01 |
| Number of pages | 176 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |