On this day, 5 July 1948, the UK National Health Service (NHS) was founded, on the principle that medical treatment should be provided according to need rather than the ability to pay.
The idea for the NHS was not the result of individual enlightenment, but of working-class self-organisation. The inspiration for the NHS came from the Tredegar Workmen’s Medical Aid Society in South Wales, where coal miners and steelworkers paid in a small weekly subscription. By the start of World War II, 95% of Tredegar was covered by the society.
Philip Prosser was born with club foot and received treatment as a result of his father's membership of the Society. He recounted: "I was taken to one of the top orthopaedic doctors in Wales and that was the start of my treatment for quite a few years. When the NHS came in in 1948, I was transferred over. It was exactly the same as the NHS in 1948. We already had it in Tredegar before that."
During World War II, to motivate millions of people to sacrifice and dedicate themselves to the war effort, the government promised reforms to benefit working-class people after the war was over. Conservative MP Quentin Hogg had warned Parliament that "if you do not give the people social reform, they are going to give you social revolution."
Sure enough, after the war ended, servicemen returning home, and others, began demanding better conditions, backing it up with direct action, like a huge wave of squatting. The NHS was part of a package of reforms introduced following the conflict to ensure social peace.
But almost right away, it came under attack. Legislation to bring in prescription charges was introduced by the Labour Party in 1949. Then fees for dental treatments were introduced, and since then the free, socialised service has been under attack from successive governments who have gradually introduced more charges, marketisation and privatisation. Meanwhile, health workers, patients and local communities have continuously fought to defend it.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10531/foundation-of-the-nhs
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