The NHS is our most treasured institution, but chances are that you or someone you know has felt seriously let down by the system. The news is full of health care scandals, but it's not just extreme cases that affect us; it's the everyday failings, misdiagnoses and missed symptoms that put your life and wellbeing at risk. Even caring doctors have too many patients and too little time, while patients often feel too overwhelmed, embarrassed, intimidated or ill to ask the right questions, or that they don't have the power to fight for basic care. In Staying Alive , Dr Phil Hammond, a GP and campaigner with unrivalled sympathy for patients' needs, helps give you the confidence and the tools to take control of your health care, and shows you in friendly, at times witty, ways how to navigate a broken system. This book tells you: - How to get your GP to listen to you and take your symptoms seriously (given that they only have 10 minutes and think they know more than you); - How to get a second opinion (or a better doctor); - How to get hold of your patient records (you have the right to see them, and there's probably a mistake in them); - How to get out of the operating room in one piece (given that you'll be asleep during the crucial parts); - How to get better (and then how to make the NHS better).