Claire Rayner

Journalist and writer Rayner wrote her first letter to Nursing Times in 1958, on nurses' pay and conditions. She then began regularly writing to The Daily Telegraph on themes of patient care or nurses' pay. She began writing novels soon after her marriage, and by 1968 had published more than 25 books. meant that she found full-time nursing difficult, and so focused on a full-time writing career. Initially writing articles for magazines and publications, in 1968 she published one of the earliest sex manuals, People in Love, which brought her to national attention. Despite the "explicit" content, the work was commended for its "down-to-earth" and "sensible" approach.

Campaigner Rayner became president of the Patients Association, and through her extensive charity work and writings was appointed OBE in 1996 for services to women's health and wellbeing and to health matters. Rayner had a very personal reason for supporting Sense's Older Person campaign, wearing hearing aids in both ears, and also had age-related dry macular degeneration (AMD), a sight loss common in older people.

Between 1993 and 2002, Rayner was one of the patrons of the Herpes Viruses Association and chaired a Press Briefing in June 1993 aimed at destigmatising genital herpes. When tendering her resignation, she cited the fact that she was patron of 60 organisations as the reason for trimming the list.

Rayner was appointed to UK government committees on health, and consequently authored a chapter in The Future of the NHS. Despite being president of the Patients Association, Rayner used private health care. She was a member of the Labour government's Royal Commission on the Care of the Elderly. In 1999, Rayner was appointed to a committee responsible for reviewing the medical conditions at Holloway Prison, London, at the direction of Paul Boateng who was then the Minister for Prisons. The recommendations of this committee led to far-reaching changes in the provision of medical care within Holloway. She also sat on the Prime Minister's independent commission on nursing and midwifery that published the Front Line Care (Report) in 2010.

A lifelong Labour Party supporter, she resigned in 2001 and joined the Liberal Democrats in fear of the proposed changes to the NHS from the administration of Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Rayner was Vice-President (and formerly President) of the British Humanist Association, a Distinguished Supporter of the Humanist Society Scotland and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society. In the weeks leading up to her death, Rayner had the following to say about Pope Benedict XVI's state visit to the United Kingdom:

Rayner's position as a patron of the Down's Syndrome Association was promptly terminated in 1995. She had queried parents' decision to have a disabled child:

It was a response to the decision of journalist Dominic Lawson and his wife not to have a test determining the health of the foetus during a pregnancy and thus, following one potential result, rejecting outright the option of a termination. It was published shortly after the birth of the couple's disabled daughter. They had three children together: writer and food critic Jay Rayner, She also suffered from Graves' disease

Publications Rayner was a prolific author of both fiction and non-fiction.

Fiction

Performers Gower Street (1973) The Haymarket (1974) Paddington Green (1975) Soho Square (1976) Bedford Row (1977) Long Acre (1978) Charing Cross (1979) The Strand (1980) Chelsea Reach (1982) Shaftesbury Avenue (1983) Piccadilly (1985) Seven Dials (1986)

Poppy Chronicles Jubilee (1987) Flanders (1988) Flapper (1988) Blitz (1988) Festival (1988) Sixties (1988)

George Barnabas First Blood (1993) Second Opinion (1994) Third Degree (1995) Fourth Attempt (1996) Fifth Member (1997)

Quentin Quartet London Lodgings (1994) Paying Guests (1995)

Novels The House on the Fen (1967) Starch of Aprons (1967) Lady Mislaid (1968) Death on the Table (1969) The Meddlers (1970) A Time to Heal (1972) The Burning Summer (1972) Reprise (1980) The Running Years (1981) The Enduring Years (1982) Trafalgar Square (1982) Family Chorus (1984) The Virus Man (1985) Sisters (1986) Lunching at Laura's (1986) Maddie (1988) Children's Ward, the Lonely One, Private Wing (1988) Postscripts (1991) Dangerous Things (1993) The Final Year (1993) Cottage Hospital (1993) Company (1993) The Doctors of Downlands (1994) Nurse in the Sun (1994) The Lonely One (1995) Children's Ward (1995) The Private Wing (1996) The Legacy (1997) The Inheritance (1998)

Non-fiction What Happens in Hospital (1963) Essentials of Outpatient Nursing (1967) One Hundred and One Facts an Expectant Mother Should Know (1967) For Children (1967) Housework the Easy Way (1967) One Hundred and One Key Facts on Baby Care (1967) Shall I Be a Nurse? (1967) People in Love: Modern Guide to Sex in Marriage (1968) Parent's Guide to Sex Education (1968) Woman's Medical Dictionary (1971) About Sex (1972) When to Call the Doctor: What to Do Whilst Waiting (1972) Child Care (1973) Shy Person's Book (1973) Where Do I Come from?: Answers to a Child's Questions About Sex (1974) Independent Television's Kitchen Garden (1976) Atlas of the Body and Mind (1976) Claire Rayner Answers Your 100 Questions on Pregnancy (1977) Family Feelings: Understanding Your Child from 0 to 5 (1977) Body Book (1978) Related to Sex: Talking About Sexual Feelings within Your Family (1979) Independent Television's Greenhouse Gardening (1979) Everything Your Doctor Would Tell You If He Had the Time (1980) Baby and Young Child Care: A Practical Guide to Parents of Children Aged 0–5 Years (1981) Growing Pains and How to Avoid Them (1984) Marriage Guide (1984) The Getting Better Book (1985) Claire Rayner's Lifeguide: A Commonsense Approach to Modern Living (1985) When I Grow Up (1986) Woman (1986) Safe Sex (1987) The Don't Spoil Your Body Book (1989) Clinical Judgements (1989) Life and Love and Everything (1993) Grandparenting Today: Making the Most of Your Grandparenting Skills With Grandchildren of All Ages (1997) How Did I Get Here from There? (2003)