David Haslam – författare

***A Waterstones Best Books of 2022 pick***'David Haslam is uniquely placed to reflect on how healthcare has lost its way, what needs to be done to fix it and why all of us are responsible for doing so... The importance and timeliness of his messages shines through.' Dr Phil Hammond'A fascinating and important book.' Dr Amanda BrownWith a single drug in the UK currently costing £340,000 per patient per year, or a gene therapy in the USA being costed at $1.2million, who should get such treatments, and how can we begin to afford them? Should we all be entitled to timely mental health therapy? How should we care for our old? As we grapple with the world's worst pandemic for a century, our minds are on our health more than ever. But what should we rightfully expect of doctors? In this original and thought-provoking book, Sir David Haslam explores what good healthcare should achieve and asks how we pay for it. Informed by patient stories and data from across the world - from US big pharma to Britain's NHS - this is an urgent and often moving examination of our most important asset: our health.

In the popular Q and A format of the Your Questions Answered series, this book provides succinct, expert information on obesity, and is the first to bring together all the different aspects of obesity from the primary care clinician's point of view. The authors, Dr Ian Campbell and Dr David Haslam, both of the National Obesity Forum, are practising GPs with a special interest in obesity and overweight management. With an emphasis on evidence-based, up-to-date knowledge, the authors discuss issues such as the costs of obesity to society and the individual, the role of lifestyle and drug therapies, surgical management and possible future developments. They also address many questions asked about obesity by other physicians, practice and community nurses, medical students and trainees, and indeed patients. Some frequently asked patient questions, in non-medical language, are included, and there is a list of sources of further information and patient support.

This is a text for practicing pharmacists on the understanding, management and treatment of Obesity. Obesity is an important risk factor for a number of chronic conditions such as heart disease, stroke, some cancers and type two diabetes. It is responsible for more than 9000 premature deaths a year in England alone and is a growing problem both among adults and children especially in the UK and USA. Community pharmacists now have an increasingly important role in public health. The increased health promotion responsibility under the new contract in the UK and improved consultation facilities now available means that a book such as this is very timely. This text focuses on pharmacists care with the first part concentrating on the background and epidemiology of the problem, the current rates of obesity and the facts, also linking obesity with the emergence of potential public health crisis. Part two of the text focuses on the prevention of obesity including prevention on government level, psychological intervention and exercise and nutrition. The chapters then go on to include the pharmacological interventions including drugs available and also surgical interventions and diets.The closing chapter looks at the structure of the evolving services from community pharmacy nationally and internationally.

The book is needed for several reasons. Bariatric surgery is one of the most clinically effective and cost effective services in any field of medicine, and is growing in popularity, and the non-specialist family practitioner, allied health professional and pharmacist need to know exactly what it involves. Bariatric surgery is in everyone’s interest – whether medic or patient, as it offers improvement in diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnoea, fatty liver and many cancers, whilst reducing benefits, housing costs and the general burden on the economy. There is a lot of flawed thinking on surgery in primary care, with only a minority of family practitioner specialists making the majority of referrals, whilst many are denying their patients access because of their own misconceived ideas. A ‘back to basics’ book will help tackle the negative views surrounding the topic, and improve the volume and quality of referrals. Very often patients turning up to obesity centres have been given poor advice, and inappropriate treatment, and arrive with little or no idea what to expect.  Many medics prioritise other conditions first, overlooking the underlying cause, i.e. obesity. Basic education on obesity and co-morbidities is fast becoming essential.