History of the National Health Service
The name National Health Service (NHS) is used to refer to the four public health services of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, individually or collectively, though only England's NHS officially has this title. For details of the history of each National Health Service, see:
- History of the National Health Service (England)
- History of NHS Scotland
- History of NHS Wales
- History of Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland
The NHS was the first universal health care system established anywhere in the world.[1]
The NHS in Scotland was established as a separate entity with its own legislation, the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947, from the foundation of the NHS in 1948. Northern Ireland likewise had its own legislation in 1948. Wales, however, was managed from England and treated much like an English region for the first 20 years of the NHS. In 1969, responsibility for the NHS in Wales was passed to the Secretary of State for Wales from the Secretary of State for Health who was thereafter just responsible for the NHS in England.
In 1948 across England and Wales there were 377 hospital Management Committees, and 36 Teaching Hospitals, each with its own board of governors. There were also 146 Local Health Authorities, running health centres, ambulances services and other community services, and 140 Executive Councils, managing General Practices, NHS dentistry, pharmacists and opticians.[2]
In 1979 across the whole UK there were about 2,750 NHS hospitals with about 480,000 beds, accounting for about 70% of total NHS expenditure. About one-third of beds in England were then provided in new or converted accommodation built since 1948 with a higher proportion in Northern Ireland, but lower in Scotland and Wales. Beds for mental illness, geriatric patients and mental handicap were much more likely to be in older buildings than acute or maternity services. [3]
See also
References
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