Healthcare for all

On 5th July 1948 the British National Health Service was born. The NHS is such an intrinsic part of our country that it is difficult to imagine a time when it didn’t exist. But it’s also fascinating to note the timing of its creation. Britain was coming out of the other side of six years of war. Six years when the political focus was on protecting our country from invasion. And yet, it was during those six years that the report leading to the creation of one of Britain’s greatest institutions was published.

In 1941, civil servant, William Beveridge, was asked to chair a committee to look at the ways Britain should be rebuilt after the war, looking more specifically at existing social insurance and allied services. As a result the report, entitled Social Insurance and Allied Services, was presented to Parliament and published in November 1942.