history NHS

• At the start of World War Two the government realised that, if it was to cope with the huge number of anticipated casualties, it needed to increase spending on healthcare. It also began to plan for the future.

  In 1942, a civil servant named William Beveridge produced a report, the Beveridge Report, which identified five evil giants - want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness. In identifying disease as a barrier to progress, he proposed a free national health service.
• The new Labour government passed the National Health Service Act


  1946
• Model used for the NHS

  Based on one used in Tredegar in the 1930s, which was like an early, local version of the NHS
• Aneurin Bevan


  • New Minister for Health
  • MP for Tredegar
  • Had to work hard to overcome opposition to the NHS
• Groups that opposed the NHS

  • The BMA (who feared doctors employed by the NHS would lose income)
  • Many local authorities and voluntary bodies (which ran hospitals, also objected as they feared they would lose control over them)
  • Many people such as Winston Churchill and many Conservative MPs (thought that the cost of the NHS would be too great)
• At the start of World War Two the government realised that, if it was to cope with the huge number of anticipated casualties, it needed to increase spending on healthcare. It also began to plan for the future.
• William Beveridge produced the Beveridge Report


  1942
• Beveridge Report


  Identified five evil giants - want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness
• In identifying disease as a barrier to progress, Beveridge proposed a free national health service.
• The new Labour government passed the National Health Service Act


  1946
• The model used for the NHS

  Was based on one used in Tredegar in the 1930s, which was like an early, local version of the NHS
• Aneurin Bevan, who was MP for Tredegar, had to work hard to overcome opposition to the NHS.
• Groups that objected to the NHS

  • The BMA, who feared that doctors employed by the NHS, would lose income
  • Many local authorities and voluntary bodies, which ran hospitals, also objected as they feared they would lose control over them
  • Many people such as Winston Churchill and many Conservative MPs thought that the cost of the NHS would be too great
• The National Health Service came into being

  5 July 1948
• The NHS was part of a series of reforms which aimed to use money from taxes to provide support from the cradle to the grave.
• Changes brought by the NHS

  • Free medical treatment for all British citizens
  • The nationalisation of hospitals under the Ministry of Health and organised into regional health authorities
  • The creation of health centres to provide services like vaccinations, maternity care, district nurses etc
  • A better distribution of doctors around the country with GPs (general practitioners), opticians and dentists in every area
• Since its inception in 1948, the NHS has made a major contribution to the quality of healthcare and raising life expectancy in Britain.
• The successes of the NHS, particularly in raising life expectancy, has also increased the demand for services.
• Successes of the NHS

  • The NHS has made healthcare accessible to all members of the public
  • The NHS has made a major contribution to increasing life expectancy in the UK
  • There has been a continuing reduction in child mortality and in maternal mortality
  • There have been major medical breakthroughs in many areas, eg transplant surgery, cancer treatment etc
  • A wide range of services has been made available, eg cancer screening, asthma clinics etc
  • There has been an increasing emphasis on preventive medicine, eg mass vaccination against a variety of illnesses and health campaigns, eg to reduce smoking
  • The NHS helped reduce the pressure many women felt as main carers