Created and edited by Adam Kay (author of multi-million best seller ‘This is Going to Hurt’), ‘DEAR NHS’ features household names telling their personal stories of the health service.

What would we do without the NHS? In the UK it means that no matter what we earn, no matter who we are we can receive healthcare for free. The immense pressure that it has been under in the past year is quite possibly the biggest challenge they’ve ever faced since it started. Even after cuts after cuts it still stands on shaking legs and continues to provide us with one of the best healthcare services in the world.

I pre-ordered this as soon as I heard it was happening. I’m a big fan of Adam Kay and the fact that each copy purchased gave money to NHS charities. In the UK at least, we all have a story of how the NHS has helped us or someone we love. Of course I was picking up a copy.

The stories within this collection may be by celebrities, those who we see as ‘having it all’ that they too rely on our incredible health service, that some of them may not be here without it. Like many of us the NHS has been there for them at the start of their lives, at times where we are scared and in pain and will be there for us when it’s our time to go, to make us as comfortable as we can be.

Emilia Clarke’s essay is the one that stuck with me the most. While filming the first season of Game of Thrones, Emilia became incredibly ill due to a brain aneurysm. Every step of the way she thanks the NHS for their expertise, care and for saving her life. In particular she thanks “The nurse who suggested — after everyone else in A&E struggled to find an answer when I was first admitted — that maybe, just maybe I should have a brain scan. She saved my life.”

There are so many popular names, I’m sure that everyone who picks up this book will find a story that they relate with. Celebrities include; Peter Kay, Sir Paul McCartney, Stephen Fry, Dawn French, Sir Trevor McDonald, Graham Norton, Sir Michael Palin, Naomie Harris, Ricky Gervais, Sir David Jason, Dame Emma Thompson and Joanna Lumley.  

Some of the pieces are short and funny, others will make you want to hug your family a little closer, all of them will make you proud of the incredible institution that the NHS is. It will remind you that weekly clapping isn’t what got us this far, it’s the hard work, the blood, sweat and tears of all that work within the NHS, not just the surgeons, doctors and nurses but the health assistants, the porters, the receptionists, the secretaries. Every single person working within the NHS is a part of one of the greatest things to come out of this country – something that must be protected.

I couldn’t give this book any less than 5 stars. The fact that in the midst of everything this idea was born and such a beautiful collection was created so quickly is truly wonderful. Adam Kay is excellent, there is no one else I think that could have put these stories together so well. I finished the book and immediately ordered a copy for my Nanna so she could read this too. I highly recommend picking up a copy and money from each goes to NHS charities.