Hard-hitting New Ambulance Book Illuminates The Real Life Stories Behind UK Austerity Measures

Aug. 11, 2012 - PRLog -- Frank’s Last Call follows Spence Kennedy, a newly-qualified ambulance technician, as he starts work at a busy seaside ambulance station. Under the guidance of Frank, a paramedic forty-five years in the service and coming up to retirement, Spence is led through scenes ranging from the comic to the tragic. As well as giving an insight into how people cope on a personal level, the book builds job through job into a wider canvas. In a humane, non-judgemental way, and without explicitly going into the politics of the ambulance service or the country as a whole, the book offers a view from the sharp end of the health service. Based on over one hundred patients, the book explores the major health issues of today, including alcohol and drug abuse, care of the elderly, mental health and obesity.

According to a report in The Guardian 07/08/12: ‘Spending in real terms on mental health has declined for the first time in a decade, a report for the Department of Health has found.’ In other areas, the coalition government struggles to come up with effective measures to combat binge drinking, obesity and the rising cost of elderly care, whilst maintaining a squeeze on public spending. As the first health professionals on scene, the ambulance service is a striking litmus test of the effects these public policies are having.

Some responses to the blog of the book:
'It is all too easy to forget (…) that public services are about people.  (…)  that there are some among us for whom public services are not something at the margin but are the determinants of well being, or may quite literally be at the boundary between life and death. (…)  One of the people who helps me to remember is Spence Kennedy, the author of Siren Voices.'  www.publicstrategist.com

'Must-have book if you have any interest in your fellow humans. Easy to read short stories that have you chortling or crying within minutes of each other. (…) Most of us never see the damaged people (mentally as well as physically) that folk like Spence work with daily. It's a pity that our politicians can't do a shift or two with these unappreciated public service workers. Remember these stories the next time you come to vote in a general election.'  Review of Frank's Last Call from Amazon.co.uk

A free copy of Frank’s Last Call is available until 11/09/12 at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/179135. To order, use the code: VB99S
Further reviews of the novel are available at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Franks-Last-Call-ebook/dp/B008HH1...