1 janv. 1948 - The National Health Service

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The major problem in the 1900s was the cost of medical treatment. The Liberal government of 1906-1914 carried out changes which helped the poor have better access to healthcare - the 1911 National Insurance Act did provide help for workers who fell ill, and from 1912 clinics in school began to give children free medical treatment; however, they were still a long way from including the entire population. Furthermore, World War 1 drained Britain's resources, and several economic slumps in the 1920s and 1930s meant that the government could not expand healthcare provision.

The Second World War changed people's attitudes towards healthcare. In 1948, Aneurin Bevan, Minister of Health, helped set up the National Health Service (NHS). The idea came from the 1942 report by social reformer William Beveridge that called for government provision of social security, and the 1945 Labour Party's mandate to implement Berveridge's proposals. Bevan wanted the NHS to be free at the point of use - he set up a system of compulsory National Insurance to pay for it. Bevan wooed doctors and dentists with a fixed payment for each registered patient; they were also allowed to continue treating private fee-paying patients. By 1948, nearly all hospitals and 92% of doctors had joined the NHS.

Early problems with the NHS included:
- Hospitals throughout the country needed updating desperately and there were not enough around England.
- Britain had very little money after World War 2 to pay for the NHS.
- GP surgeries needed modernising and many GPs themselves were suspicious of the NHS.
- There were large appointment waiting times and delays.

From the 1960s, the government began to spend to improve the NHS:
- More hospitals were built around Britain.
- The Quality Care Commission was set up to monitor hospital quality.
- The GPs Charter 1966 gave incentives to GPs who kept up with medical research and encouraged GPs to work in practices together.

The NHS was the biggest ever intervention by the government to improve the health of the British public. It massively increased the number of people with access to healthcare, and the number of doctors doubled between 1948 and 1973 to keep up with demand. The NHS offers high-tech medical treatment and specialist care to anyone in the country, has improved life expectancy, developed training for doctors and nurses, and provides highly expensive and complex services free and accessible to everyone.
The founding of the NHS showed that government intervention could make a positive impact on people's health, despite the great change in public attitudes and scientific knowledge to make it happen.

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