
Angela Burdick's new satire
A Darkly Funny Look at the Future of Healthcare
A Darkly Funny Look at the Future of Healthcare
Think you have the solution to NHS funding shortfalls? Think again. John lands in the middle of the problem when he’s stretchered into A&E at NHS Trust Terminal Five, sponsored by Volvo. After being pulled from a river, he can’t recall if he was pushed, fell, or jumped. Why did he leave his lover, Megan, and make such a reckless choice?
Once inside the hospital, John discovers a world where patients unfit for purpose are in trouble, and hospital staff — including suspiciously glassy-eyed nursing assistants — seem to have sinister roles. There’s even a rock band, The Day Trippers, for entertainment. In trying to save the hospital from government bailiffs, resuscitation takes on an unsettling, creative twist.
Burdick’s surreal, shocking, and darkly funny novel takes a satirical dive into the future of healthcare, where survival of the fittest is taken literally. You’ve been warned — this isn’t your usual hospital drama.
Anyone who got out of bed this morning knows we have a David and Goliath situation as we expect too few NHS staff to battle to provide too much for too many.
July 2024 the Health Minister himself diagnosed our precious NHS as ‘not fit for purpose’. OK it’s satire – but how close do any of the solutions portrayed in Fit for Purpose chime with reality?
Fit for Purpose is available in paperback or eBook from the bookguild.co.uk, Waterstones.com or any bookshop, or online bookseller.
For author interviews, review or competition copies, articles, photos or extracts:
SOPHIE MORGAN, SENIOR PUBLICIST
Direct Line: 0116 466 0047
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RELEASE DATE: 28/03/2025
eISBN: 9781835742907
ISBN: 9781835741467
Price: £9.99
Angela Burdick, born in Kent, started her career at JWT Advertising. Later moving to Dublin to open a restaurant, she authored and illustrated three non-fiction books. As an NUJ member, she wrote for publications including The Irish Times and Oxford Times. Now based in Oxford, Secker published her novel A Place of Safety. She also worked for the NHS and in the Mental Health sector, and exhibited installations on medical intervention across major cities.