A lead actor in hit BBC show Call the Midwife has praised the achievements of the NHS, saying the insitution has transformed the lives of millions.
Stephen McGann, popularly known for his portrayal of Poplar GP Dr. Patrick Turner in the acclaimed show, has lauded the transformative impact of the NHS, which was established 75 years ago, on the lives of children from working-class backgrounds. McGann said the NHS had been a driving force for improvement in communities,like the one he serves on screen in the BBC period drama set in the late 1950s and 1960s East End of London.
In an interview relaying on the show and the importance of the NHS, McGann remarked: "When Call The Midwife began with 1957, we still saw diseases like rickets and TB (tuberculosis) – diseases of poverty and lack of vitamins – as well as the deadly infectious diseases like measles, polio and diphtheria."
"It was a case of not only fighting the emergency infections, but making changes to the living and health standards of working people – with huge long-term benefits. All the difference in the world. You cannot have a thriving society without the minimum of safety, health, and security... Without equal and full access to health, society simply subsists."
Reflecting on the dire circumstances that disadvantaged families faced before the existence of the NHS, McGann shared personal insights into his own family history. He expressed, "My own dad was born in 1924, and his dad died when he was only five. This left my grandmother with the task of bringing up three children without any form of welfare or health protection... The sense of protection for his children under the NHS was therefore something he felt very deeply as a gift from the nation he’d served, and a chance for his family to thrive in the peace that followed."
Highlighting the tragic consequences of the absence of adequate healthcare, McGann disclosed, "My father suffered rheumatic fever as a child and, without antibiotics, it developed to rheumatic heart disease. It eventually destroyed his heart valve at 60."
McGann stressed the importance of understanding the historical context of Call The Midwife, which portrays a generation familiar with a world devoid of universal healthcare. He urged modern audiences to recognise the advantages of a modern health system, stating: "A key thing for modern audiences to understand about Call The Midwife is that it depicts a generation who knew very well indeed about a world without the NHS, antibiotics, and vaccine programmes. They’d seen all of those monstrous diseases close up... We are more distant than that now and don’t often see what a world without universal healthcare is like. Spoilt? Maybe we are."
The next installment of Call The Midwife, set in 1969, is scheduled for release in 2024. There will also be a Christmas special for 2023.
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