70 years on...

On 5 July 2018, the NHS will celebrate its 70th birthday. Few people in Britain can remember life without it. It’s part of the bed rock of our society and the institution of which, as a nation, we are most proud. In the early years its universal coverage, providing care irrespective of the ability to pay, was revolutionary. As the decades have rolled by the needs, and expectations, of the population have evolved and the medicine itself bears little resemblance to that in 1948 when the primary problems were acute illnesses and those treated were grateful just to be seen and to survive.

Over the decades the service has developed to meet these needs, often going through something of a crisis before another step change in funding and practice. Just as we feel it’s very difficult and pressured today, our predecessors had similar concerns – and indeed I am old enough to remember them talking in such terms.