Today marks 75 years of the National Health Service - and there are few people on Merseyside who remember life without it.
Founded in 1948 and now treating over a million people a day in England, the NHS was the first universal health system to be available to all, free at the point of delivery. With a history of unprecedented care and innovation, the NHS has continued to evolve and adapt to meet the needs of generations.
From Britain’s first kidney transplant in 1960 to Europe’s first liver transplant in 1968, the world’s first test-tube baby born in 1978 and more recently delivering the first accredited COVID-19 vaccine in the world, many of us couldn't imagine a life without the NHS. Like other colleagues and professions across the UK, Merseyside NHS staff are under great strain at the moment.
