At midnight on 5th July 1948, the National Health Service was born with
the founding principle to be free at the point of use and based on
clinical need rather than on a person's ability to pay. Seventy years
since its formation, these core principles still hold true, although the
world we now live in is a very different place to the post war era in
which it was formed, and the long term sustainability of the service in
its current form is questionable.
This book traces the history of our health service, from Victorian
healthcare in the early 20th century, through a timeline of change to
the current day, comparing the problems and illnesses of 1948 to those
we face seventy years later. Politics, funding, and healthcare systems
around the world are demystified and we present case studies, views and
snapshots from history from people who have experienced our changing
NHS.