David Oliver: The NHS won’t make its 85th birthday without urgent treatment and longer term planning

At the NHS’s foundation in July 1948 it was the first health system in the world to offer medical care, free at the point of use, to an entire population. It aimed to give everyone the same access to care based on need and not the ability to pay, nor contributions to an insurance scheme: universal, equitable, comprehensive, centrally funded, high quality care for all.When health services were devolved in 1999 to the Northern Irish, Scottish, and Welsh governments, all three stated their commitment to those founding principles, which were reiterated in the 2012 NHS Constitution for England.1 And public support for these founding principles remains sky high. In the 2022 round of the British Social Attitudes Survey, of the 3362 people surveyed 93% said that the NHS should remain “free of charge when you need it,” 84% said that it should be “available to everyone,” and 82% thought that…
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