An exhibition has opened in London to celebrate the role played by charities in the history of the NHS.
Love and Charity: A History of Giving in the NHS, which opened on Thursday at the Saatchi gallery, features portraits of NHS staff, patients and celebrity supporters taken by renowned photographer Rankin.
There are over 230 NHS charities in the UK which help fund innovative research and pioneer new technologies. They also offer extra services to help the health service go further than would be possible with Government funding alone.
Paul Spencer, 56, from Leeds, is among those photographed in the exhibition.
The church minister was born with a congenital heart condition and is believed to be one of the first people in the UK to receive a new operation called the Rastelli Procedure at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), aged 8.
Remembering the procedure, he told the Standard: “When the operation’s ‘call up papers’ came I was boldly telling my friends; ‘I’m going into hospital to have the hole in my heart fixed. It’s 50/50 I might die.’ Again, I recall the night before the operation I cried & said ‘I don’t want to die’. I seemed to know the risk, but at 8 years old, probably had not grasped the extent.”
“I knew it must be a very important time, because my father came with us to the hospital & stayed until after the operation. I made friends with other lads and after our operations we used to race up & down the ward on tricycles.”
Mr Spencer added: “Even before the invention of the NHS, charity has been a major part of healthcare provision, trying to make sure everyone, regardless of their wealth or background, had opportunities to be cared for equally.”
“We are so fortunate to now have the NHS to provide everyone with much of our day-to-day health needs. Yet, the ‘extras’ of research, specialist equipment and ‘comforts’ to make hospital more pleasant, often need to be covered by the many NHS linked charities.
“At Great Ormond Street Hospital this means things like toys, play specialists, bright decors, the Chaplaincy Service, and unique buildings.”
Mr Spencer said, without staff at GOSH, he would “not have now enjoyed 56 years of an eventful life”.
The series will also include portraits of celebrity supporters such as actor Sir Michael Palin and Liverpool footballer Jordan Henderson.
Mr Spencer went on: “It seems strange to see your image framed & exhibited in such a famous gallery as the Saatchi. I’m normally quite a private person, but it is for such a great cause, celebrating such a significant milestone as NHS’ 75th birthday – and all the great work NHS charities do.”
Ellie Orton OBE, Chief Executive at NHS Charities Together, said: “It’s been utterly inspiring meeting the people involved in this project and hearing their stories. NHS charities have been contributing to our health service since before its inception – and this project makes clear the phenomenal impact they have had and are still having today.”
The exhibition was opened to celebrate the NHS’s 75th anniversary on July 5.
It will run until June 11.
