NHS 75 'is a moment to pause and reflect on what we have and how it keeps changing'
As the NHS turns 75, today we're meeting the staff who help make it special and reflecting on how it has changed and keeps changing
Last updated 5th Jul 2023
Celebrations and events are taking place across the West Country today as the NHS turns 75.
In Torbay the boardroom displays plaques showing local health services dating back to the middle of the 19th century - before the site was taken over by the NHS in 1948.
Today we're reflecting how it has changed to date, including how it was formed thanks to local woman Ella Rowcroft. The site once boasted 'an ambulance' for the whole of Torbay and is currently looking to the future by drawing up multi-million improvement plans.
Across Somerset NHS staff have been collecting memories and experiences from patients about what the health service means to them.
We've spent time with the team at Wincanton Community Hospital
The first person ever to be born under the NHS has warned that more should be done to protect it if it's to last for future generations.
Aneira Thomas, aged 75, was born on the 5th of July 1948, the first day of the National Health Service, and has been recognised as the first baby to be born under the NHS.
Mrs Thomas, who was named after the service’s founder Aneurin “Nye” Bevan, said she feels it is her duty to inform people about the work of the NHS.
She spoke at the unveiling of a train from GWR being dedicated to the NHS founder to celebrate the NHS's 75th birthday.
"I want to shout it from the rooftops. It stops human suffering. It must go forward, not backwards.
"We must never lose sight of why it was set up in the first place. It meant equality, morality and values.
“The NHS touches all our lives and we’re all guilty of taking it for granted, even I do at times.
“In Wales, we don’t pay for prescriptions and sometimes I’m standing in a chemist and people are complaining about a wait of 10 minutes for prescriptions, and I feel like screaming ‘do you realise how lucky we are to have the health care system that we have’?”
She added: “The young people today do need more education not to take it for granted. I think (education about the NHS) should start from an early age, in primary school.”
"It was a turning point in history, the jewel in our crown."
She told us how the NHS changed everything when it was first introduced 75 years ago. She said that her grandmother who lived before the NHS died at 40, yet her mother who was able to use the health service lived way into her 90s.
“My mother always was proud of the fact that I was the first baby born into the NHS. When I was a little girl, I remember hiding behind her skirt when she would say ‘this is Nye, my national health baby’.
“It was to the talk of the village.
“It must have been amazing that people could afford healthcare, optical care, dentistry.
“I do worry now because in the village that I live, you can’t access a dentist without paying and GPs… the interaction isn’t the same.
“So I do worry about the future.”
How did the NHS come to exist?
The NHS was founded by Aneurin Bevan. Born in Tredegar, he based the model of the NHS off of a smaller health service in the valleys. People would pay 1 penny a week and to have access to free healthcare.
By the time the NHS was created, over 20,000 people relied on this valleys health service.
NHS is established
The National Health Service was formally established in 1948 at what is now Trafford General Hospital in Manchester. The service was started by Aneurin Bevan under the government of Clement Atlee. Its aim was to create a system of free healthcare to all. One of the first patients was Sylvia Diggory, aged 13, who was suffering from a liver condition.
Prescription charges introduced
Soon after its inception, charges for prescriptions and dental care were introduced. Each prescription would cost one shilling, while dental care would require a £1 payment. Charges would eventually be dropped and then reinstated in 1968.
NHS discoveries
Throughout the 1950s, thanks to the pioneering technology the NHS was using, a number of medical advancements were made. Polio vaccinations were rolled out in the UK, the structure of DNA was found and the link between smoking and cancer was proven.
Treating new diseases
As time went on and the NHS grew, so did its capacity to look after those who were unable to be treated before. The Mental Health Act in 1983 was the first time the concept of consent was raised in treating those with mental health issues. Nurses also treated people suffering from AIDS in the late 1980s and, together with the government, helped to reduce the stigma of the disease, which primarily affected gay men.
Opening to the public
In order to cope with the increasing demand for the NHS, the structure of the service changed. In 1991, NHS Trusts were established in the first of a wave of reorganisation for the service. People would later be able to donate organs more easily with the introduction of the NHS Organ Donor Register.
Stretched resources
In the 21st century, the NHS came under pressure as a result of stretched resources. With the rising cost of medicines, the government voted to bring in longer working hours and minimal increases in pay for NHS staff in 2015. This resulted in a mass picket of junior doctors around the country for better working conditions. It was the first general strike in the NHS' history and the first instance of industrial action in 40 years. There have been further strikes in 2023
NHS during coronavirus
In 2020, a new disease named COVID-19 began to spread around the world, eventually reaching the UK at the end of January. The resulting pandemic led to NHS workers being on the frontline of the disease. Support for the NHS grew massively and during lockdowns, so-called "Claps for Carers" would take place every Thursday to thank the NHS and its staff for protecting the public during the pandemic.