Labour created the NHS

60 years ago, Labour created the NHS. It was born in a society where healthcare was exclusive, expensive and unavailable for many ordinary people. To most citizens, illness meant desperation, suffering and even destitution. Thousands died from diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, tuberculosis, diphtheria and polio because they could not afford treatment. Britain needed a system that provided healthcare to everyone, free at the point of delivery, based on need and not the ability to pay.

It was the Beveridge Report that demonstrated the need for universal healthcare and it was the Labour Government that made it a reality. Despite opposition from the Tories, who voted against its creation, the NHS was launched in 1948. Through its early years, times were tough but the NHS helped the British people cope with post-war society. For the first time ever hospital services, family practitioner services (doctors, pharmacists, opticians and dentists) and community-based services were available to the public for free under one organisation.

Since then, the NHS has proved itself vital to the British people. It has been a source of confidence as families know that they will receive the best possible treatment, whatever their financial circumstances. The NHS became a symbol of freedom from fear and of a government on your side. More>>