For starters, it has lived. It has encountered immense trials and immense joys in equal measure; it has seen births, deaths and social change; it is kind, compassionate and will not be defeated in spite of every clod of disaster thrown in its path. It was born 70 years ago, as were many grandparents, into an age where the world was trying to heal, cities and communities were tentatively rebuilding and intelligent people were attempting to make society fairer.
It is 1948: enter Aneurin 'Nye' Bevin, Health Minister under Clement Attlee's Labour government with a mission on his hands. 2 years previously the National Health Service Act had been passed in July 1946, a plan for health services paid for by taxes but available freely as soon as people were in need. Bevan launches the service on the 5th of July 1948, based on three principles: that care is free at the point of delivery, is based on need rather than ability to pay and is available to all who need it. And life in the UK in the 20th century is never the same again.
Under the NHS life expectancy has risen and child mortality rates have declined; it has seen my parents, uncles and aunties, brother and cousins safely delivered into the world; it has helped my 83 year old granddad live with Type 1 diabetes since he was in his twenties. We have so much to thank it for.
Sometimes we are in danger of taking our grandparents for granted, purely because they have always been there, because they are so integrated into our daily lives. Occasionally we forgot to ring them or thank them or think of them which, to put it bluntly, is shameful. The same goes for the NHS. The majority of the population has never known a life without it - from my parents generation onwards, we have all benefited from the services and resources it offers for our entire lives. Born into an age of good intentions and reinventions the NHS must now contend with more individualistic behaviour, with vast swathes of the population focusing on their rights as individuals rather than their responsibilities as a community living in a country that bears vast legions of wealth alongside a huge amount of poverty. Social responsibility is entwined with the ideals of the NHS; yet increasingly people seem less able, or perhaps less willing, to value or understand its intrinsic importance to the survival of our communities and, in turn, our society.
Having said that, I have found myself overwhelmed by the sheer goodness that is exuded from everyday people. Listening to Freya Lewis, a survivor of the Manchester Arena attack, share her appreciation and love for the NHS nurses who have tended her back to health at a commemorative service held at Westminster Abbey symbolises a poignant message: out of hardship, tragedy and sadness comes courage, strength of spirit and kindness and this is what will assist the NHS in its voyage through the 21st century. This piece of writing is my own small attempt to show my appreciation for a service which is immeasurably important in the way it breathes life and care into our complicated world.
Below is a link to a glorious interview with two nurses - one is currently working for the NHS and the other started her training in 1948. Well worth a listen.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06crj37?ns_campaign=bbc_radio_4&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=radio_and_music&ns_mchannel=social
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