While at the
Department of Health he wrote his first book, The Development of the
London Hospital System 1823-1982,
(King's Fund 1986) on the evolution and
systematisation of the hospital service in London, and in retirement he
returned to contemporary medical history writing
From Cradle to Grave: fifty years of the NHS, published by the King's
Fund in 1998. This history combines
- The
clinical developments in the major specialties since 1948
- The
concurrent changes in primary health care and the hospital service
- The
political and financial background
This book, with a foreword by the Prime Minister, was published at the
beginning of 1998, the 50th anniversary
year of the NHS. It was well reviewed and there were substantial
sales. As the NHS continues to change, the material is kept up to date
on Internet. Geoffrey Rivett is committed to the idea of an effective health care system,
sees much that is good in the NHS, but is prepared to criticise when
necessary. In 2004 he was elected as a governor of the Homerton
University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and is currently vice-chair of the
governors. In the anniversary year he wrote extensively on the service
and he regularly is asked to contribute to radio and TV programmes for
example BBC World Service. In 2009 was invited to give the
David Fine Distinguished Lecture at the University of Southern Mississippi.
He is a Fellow of the
Royal College of General Practitioners, a member of the RSM, and a liveryman of
the Apothecaries and Barbers. His interests include photography
(he is an Associate of
the Royal Photographic Society)
and web-authoring. He lives in the Barbican in central London.
His web site is
at www.rivett.net and he can be reached at
geoffrey@rivett.net |
