麻豆约拍

Anaesthetist Dr Kevin Fong tells the story of the NHS today and the challenges it faces, from the perspective of the people who deliver the care.

Back in 1999, as the millennium approached, Dr Kevin Fong was in his second year as a senior house officer in A&E and, now working overnight, making decisions and treating patients on his own. "I felt like a real doctor, like I might even be doing some good. I thought I had all the answers, but I was wrong".

Among his patients there was a cast of regulars - people they took in, looked after and patched up, only to see them return, again and again. "In the homes we returned them to there were problems that medicine alone couldn鈥檛 fix. But it was a good time to be a junior doctor. The hours were going down, the pay was going up, the economy was booming and the NHS was awash with new money."

Fast forward to today and it鈥檚 a different story, with doctors, nurses and the ambulance service on the picket lines. The pressures they face are symptomatic of a Health Service that is complex, inter-connected and desperately short of capacity. Funds to stabilise it are sorely needed but money alone is not a panacea.

In this episode, Kevin gets past the myths to reveal the complexity of the NHS and examine what really lies behind the challenges it faces.

Written and presented by Dr Kevin Fong
Series Producer: Beth Eastwood
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
A TellTale Industries production for 麻豆约拍 Radio 4