Waiting is one of healthcare’s core experiences. It is there in the time it takes to access services; through the days, weeks, months or years needed for diagnoses; in the time that treatment takes; and in the elongated time-frames of recovery, relapse, remission and dying. Professor Lisa Baraitser from Birkbeck’s Department of Psychosocial Studies explores how waiting can itself be a form of care, and challenges assumptions about the value of waiting, counteracting the current political use of ‘waiting times’ as a tool for dismantling the NHS. This is part of interdisciplinary research project, Waiting Times (http://waitingtimes.exeter.ac.uk/), funded by the Wellcome Trust.
Professor Baraitser will be discussing these ideas further in a free public lecture on 31 October, as part of the Big Ideas series. Book your place here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/birkbecks-big-ideas-waiting-and-care-in-rushed-times-tickets-50949666825
