Better access to care

• Medicine in modern Britain has seen great advances in the 20th and 21st centuries as technology developed and the government became more involved in the health of the British people
• In 1900, most sick people were still cared for at home, generally by women as it was traditionally viewed as their role to look after members of the family
• Doctors were too expensive for most families in 1900
• The role of the government in medicine increased throughout the 20th century
• The government began to

  1. Fund treatment

  2. Encourage mass vaccination

  3. Lead education programmes
• National Insurance Act 1911


  Enabled workers to access medical care, with workers, employers and the government paying into a fund
• The National Insurance Act did not include the families of workers
• Ministry of Health set up in 1919


  First government department to have an overview of health across the country
• By the 1930s, there were still a lot of people who could not afford medical care and treatment
• National Health Service (NHS)


  Provided free health care at the point of delivery for all residents of Britain
• World War Two led to a change in access to health care in Britain, with many people getting free health care during the war
• Beveridge Report 1942


  Recommended a National Health Service that would be free for everyone and paid for from taxes
• There was some opposition to the NHS from doctors who had previously worked privately and did not want to lose income
• Aneurin Bevan, the Minister of Health, overcame this opposition by agreeing that doctors could continue to treat private patients
• The NHS was introduced in 1948 and marked a significant change in government involvement in medicine, with the aim of providing free health care for all
• Mass vaccination programmes launched by the government since c1900


  • Diphtheria, 1942
  • Polio, 1950
  • Tetanus, 1961
  • Measles, 1968
  • Covid-19, 2020
• Government lifestyle campaigns


  1. Advertising campaigns against smoking, binge drinking and unprotected sex

  2. Encouraging people to eat more healthily and exercise