2018: The Year the NHS turns 70.

2018 marks the 70th Birthday of one of Britain’s greatest medical innovations, the NHS. After a frankly difficult decade since it’s 60th Birthday in 2008, the NHS has helped us through the financial crisis, recent terror attacks, the Grenfell Tower tragedy and widespread bouts of illnesses such as the Swine Flu. The 1.7 million people currently employed by the NHS have faced adversity, cuts and their fair share of trials and tribulations, however, they have responded to every patient with courage, skill and to the best of their ability.

The year is 1948.  The UK exists in a society that has been completely destroyed by war and is accustomed to austerity as the norm.  After battling with a century long  discussion on the need to provide health services, the NHS was finally born. There is limited medical knowledge and infectious diseases claimed the lives of thousands of people every year. Bed rest is seen as a good method of treatment for heart attacks and ulcers. However, 70 years later, we are able to have painkillers, hip replacements, MRI scans, vaccinations and GP appointments, all thanks to the birth of the NHS in 1948.

When someone mentions the NHS in modern society, the majority of us will admit that we think of budget cuts, over-crowding, over-stretching and the various other scary words that litter our media outlets. We are forgetting about the lives saved on a daily basis, the care and compassion of nurses for their patients, the incredible courage and resilience of the ambulance service, the expertise and skill of the doctors, surgeons and GP’s that provide treatment to thousands on a daily basis and all of the incredible roles that fit in-between.

Until the official Birthday of the NHS in July, Women in Healthcare UK will be celebrating the NHS by revisiting old and new aspects of the organisation and focusing on the incredible efforts of it’s staff, both past and present.

Join us and share our articles with the hashtag #NHS70 to get involved in the celebration!