In Place of Fear: A gripping 2023 medical murder mystery crime thriller set in Edinburgh

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The National Health Service and the Welfare State have come to be used as interchangeable terms, and in the mouths of some people as terms of reproach. The strain of carrying a pregnancy, bearing the child and giving birth is a major cause of mental ill health among women — even before post-birth parenting truly begins.

Indeed, it was proved even beyond the expectations of those of us who had most faith in the Service. Helen is another cracker of a heroine from McPherson and I hope to read much more of her story in future''Historical crime from a talented pen.But the civilian population also has its casualties, in the total sometimes as great as those in the services. Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses icon An illustration of text ellipses. The author describes how she cares for her father by being present and available as he cloisters himself in his bedroom, emotionally distant.

And opens up the biggest can of worms possible as things get even darker when a body is found in the garden of the house she has been allowed to live in. Those first few years of the Service were anxious years for those of us who had the central responsibility. The philosophical approach adds heft, illuminating but never obscuring: Spens is admirably sparing with technical terms, which keeps the narrative engaging and considered.

A whole network of strong points emerge, each with a vested interest in preventing a rational national scheme from being created. I was anxious to ensure that the general practitioner should be able to earn a reasonable living without having to aim at a register which would be too large to admit of good doctoring. The question uppermost in my mind at that time was whether a consistent pattern of behaviour would reveal itself among the millions using the Service, and how long would it take for this to emerge? It seems people will stop at nothing to prevent scandal, and by poking her nose in, Helen is in grave danger. In estimating the cost of the Service it is necessary to consider the range of its operations and the facilities it provides.

That is to say, so many contributions for this benefit, and so many more for additional benefits, until enough contributions are eventually paid to qualify the contributor for the full range of benefits.Freedom of discussion and a readiness to add to, and receive from, the corpus of accepted knowledge, are the only ways we have yet discovered to safeguard what we have gained, and to open ways to new discoveries.

These are beds for which the patient pays a small sum for privacy alone, all the other services being free. It had always seemed to me that a personal contributory basis was peculiarly inappropriate to a national health service. This has been impressed upon me over and over again by those who claim to have discovered methods of treatment and cure other than those normally practised by the profession.

The use of local language and dialect gave it a gritty reality, and I hope that those reading out-with Scotland will appreciate its richness. We follow Nelly as she takes on a newly created position within that (at that time) most magnificent organisation, as a Medical Welfare Almoner. A hauntingly atmospheric weaving of social history and layered mystery, with a gutsy heroine determined to deliver justice.