Care home residents have been celebrating the NHS’ 75th anniversary and have been sharing their memories of the service.
5 July 2023 marks 75 years of the National Health Service (NHS). The NHS was founded on 5 July 1948 with the aim of providing free healthcare to everyone regardless of their income. Within two years of founding the NHS, Aneurin Bevan opened the first NHS hospital in Manchester.
Before the NHS, people in the UK had to pay to visit a doctor or the hospital, leaving many in debt or with no access to quality healthcare.
Margaret Wates, aged 86, a resident at Royal Star & Garter care Solihull home, said: “I remember the NHS being founded very fondly. My father was a doctor in the RAF, and he was overjoyed that all could receive free treatment. He was a radiographer and I just remember so clearly how pleased he was for everyone.
“Now when I see the NHS it seems to be struggling and I find that sad. I still receive very good treatment and the staff are excellent, but you hear that they’re struggling with staff shortages, or that they’re unable to treat people the way they want them to. I find that sad.”
Doris Chavasse, aged 100, a resident at Royal Star & Garter Solihull care home, said:
“I remember there being very long queues to be seen because everyone thought everything was going to be free from the NHS.
“I remember when I was in my 60s going in for an operation and the NHS was amazing. They had matrons on the hospital rounds and I was treated fabulously. It was so different to a recent admission I had. It had changed a lot, and not for the better and I found that very sad. I want to see improvements to the NHS and I really hope the problems they have now can be resolved.”
88-year-old Brenda Reed, who lives at Rivendell View care home in Stoke Bardolph, shared her memories of working in the NHS for over 40 years in honour of the service’s 75th anniversary.
Brenda began training to be a nurse with the NHS at the age of 17 in 1951 at Nottingham General Hospital, three years after the service was founded.
After a few years of working as a theatre nurse, Brenda made the decision to become a midwife at Guy’s Hospital in London, seeking a more ‘family orientated environment’.
Brenda said: “I’m particularly proud of my work as a midwife, delivering the babies of a new generation. It felt very special to see how they developed, and watch midwifery evolve over the years.”
I then worked as a Night Sister back in Nottingham covering five wards for about a year, because it was more convenient for my family life at the time.
After about a year, I decided to retrain as a health visitor for our local GP, covering vaccinations and visiting families in their own homes. I did that until I retired at 58 to take care of my own family.
I really enjoyed working in the NHS, I think that the service they provide is second to none. As a nation, I feel we are very lucky to have access to this amazing service.”
Sue Learner, editor of carehome.co.uk, leading reviews site for care homes, said: “For most of us, the NHS is something we take for granted, that is just part of being British. But hearing care home residents reminisce about the time it was founded 75 years ago makes you realise the huge difference it made to people’s lives.
“Care home residents have first-hand knowledge of how our universal health care system evolved through the decades and its founding principles remain the same – being free at the point of use and funded by general taxation. However, many have recently experienced for themselves an NHS that has become overwhelmed, with waiting times spiralling for routine and emergency care.
“Yet it is still a health service that many are justifiably proud of and on its 75th anniversary, the government needs to take action, end the strikes and make sure the NHS lives to see 100.”
ENDS
Notes for editors:
- carehome.co.uk is the leading care home reviews website and lists all registered UK care homes, helping people in their quest to find the right care home. The site also has a dedicated advice section for care seekers: https://www.carehome.co.uk/advice