The head of the NHS on Wednesday thanked staff for their “constant compassion” as the health service celebrated its 75th anniversary.
Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive of NHS England, acknowledged that workers faced “enormous challenges” but vowed that the health service would “meet the needs of the next generation”.
Aneurin “Nye” Bevan opened the first ever NHS hospital Park Hospital in Manchester on this day in 1948, promising to create a service that would “relieve money worries in times of illness”. It was the first healthcare system in any Western country to offer free medical care to the entire population.
To mark the occasion, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh will join senior Government leaders, celebrities and NHS staff for a multi-faith service in Westminster Abbey on Wednesday morning. The first baby born in the health service, Nye Thomas, will also attend.
Landmark sites, including the London Eye and the House of Commons, will light up blue for the NHS’ birthday on Wednesday evening.
Ms Pritchard said: “While many things have changed over the last 75 years, the skill and compassion of NHS staff who care for our patients and their families has always remained constant.
“They face enormous challenges: recovering services, addressing Covid backlogs that inevitably built up over the pandemic and dealing with record demand for services.”
“This milestone 75th anniversary is an opportunity for us to reflect on their hard work and our achievements but to look to the future of the health service too.”
The anniversary comes as the NHS struggles with a record backlog in care and its worst-ever workforce crisis.
The latest data shows that 1,092,947 Londoners were awaiting hospital treatment at the end of April. This included 65,689 children.
Public satisfaction with the NHS dropped to its lowest level on record in March, with a poll by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) finding that just 29 per cent of the public were satisfied with the health service.
Last week, the Government pledged to recruit more than 300,000 extra nurses, doctors and other health workers over a 15-year period to plug staffing gaps. It is hoped that the recruitment drive, the biggest in NHS history, will be able to match the rise the growing exodus of workers.
Dr Chris Streather, Medical Director for NHS London said: “Our NHS staff in the capital are our greatest asset, which has been demonstrated time and time again throughout challenging periods, of course including the pandemic in which we saw staff go above and beyond to keep Londoners safe as well as during winter pressures.
“The NHS continues to develop to meet the evolving needs of our communities and I am looking forward to an even more inspiring future.”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “The NHS is the backbone of our society, a service that makes a real and lasting difference to our lives every day and an example to the world of the importance of free healthcare for all.
“London owes the NHS a huge debt of gratitude for the remarkable way that our healthcare workers go above and beyond to help their communities, in particular the incredible efforts they made to help save the lives of Londoners during the pandemic.”
