The NHS’s forgotten workforce—a historical essay by Jennifer Crane

Porters, cleaners, receptionists, chefs, laundry workers, and other ancillary staff have represented a huge proportion of the NHS workforce since the service was founded. In 1949, domestic and maintenance staff represented 44% of the NHS workforce, administrative staff 7.1%, and professional and technical staff 3.5%.1Despite this, ancillary workers—who are non-medical and non-clinical but support the NHS’s medical and clinical work—have often been forgotten in policy discussions and omitted in representations of the NHS on radio and television. In historical debates about the NHS we hear little from housekeepers, security staff, healthcare scientists and technicians, or maintenance staff, despite their critical roles. By digging carefully into archives we can find traces of committed and passionate voices of ancillary staff, particularly from the 1970s and ’80s.Ancillary workers have always been a hugely diverse workforce in terms of gender, race, and ethnicity. Just one year after the NHS was founded the Ministry of…
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