20th century

• WW1:

  • the war presented many new injuries, and surgeons developed new techniques to repair bones, perform plastic surgery and brain surgery etc.
• Medical advancements:

  • x-rays discovered 20 years before the war, but were manufactured in WW1 to meet demand on the Western Front
  • blood groups discovered in 1901, and helped transfusions to become successful. A way of storing blood was also created for WW1
• Penicillin:

  • Fleming rediscovered penicillin in 1928, by chance, however couldn't develop his findings
  • Florey and Chain in 1939 were funded by the US to produce penicillin for WW2. By 1944, penicillin was mass produced, and proved to be extremely successful during the war.
• • after WW2 many wanted to improve society
  • this led to a victory for the Labour Party
• • Sir William Beveridge published the Beveridge report in 1942
  • Aneurin Bevan was Labour Minister for health, who introduced the National Health Service (NHS)