The National Health Service NHS was originally created in 1948 by Aneurin

Table of Contents

The National Health Service (NHS) was originally created in 1948 by Aneurin Bevan and his team of medical professionals. The very first patient to be treated under the new NHS system was 13-year-old, Sylvia Beckingham, it was recorded that she was treated for a liver condition, that required complex on-going care, testing the new NHS system to its boundaries.Shortly after the NHS formed, the government brought in charges for medicines(prescriptions), after much medical advances and surgeries being founded, meaning some of the first transplants where successfully performed by the nation’s top surgeons. There where trials of birth control pills and children started being encouraged to visit their relatives in hospitals for the first time. When originally created the NHS was lacking in specialist areas, this prompted the introduction of acute hospitals, and by the early 1960’s the first appearance of larger district hospitals were being built with specific purpose, each region having their own medical school attached, where medical students could shadow working doctors to gain much valued first-hand experience.By the mid 1970’s larger geographic regions where divided up into smaller districts, often having their own specialist units, to cater for more specific needs, bringing in some of the first psychiatric hospitals and introducing limited community nursing, nurses visiting homes of patients who were unable to travel for medical needs and conditions. In 1974 a new modernised managerial structure was brought in, updating the structures similar to that of, of the time business hierarchy. A wider scale hierarchy was also put into place, meaning that area and regional structures were also affected, all establishments included in the new across country management. Local teaching hospitals were strongly encouraged to join regional clusters, meaning they would lose their once independent status. New reforms brought in by the late 1970’s, looked closely at the still present divide amongst the classes, meaning the rich and poor still had a divide in the medical care received and had available to them, that the NHS was originally brought into prevent. Originally the NHS was brought in so that the class divide was way laid, medical services where provided free at the time of a patient needing assistance. International visitors were provided treatment under insurance policies.The large-scale NHS reforms saw the introduction of many “new” laws, acts and pieces of legislation. Health and Safety at Work act 1974, Legislation for mandatory vocational training, sharing of resources (RAWP) resource allocation working party, helping to organise the safe transportation of resources across country.In 1982 the first reported case of AIDS was recorded, calling for changes in the way long term illnesses were treated. Allowing individuals with long term or terminal illnesses to be treated not only in hospitals but also at home and ongoing general practitioner care.The new Mental Health act of 1983 saw those who suffered psychiatric problems, protected in some way for the first time by law, this led to many psychiatric establishments being closed due to misconducts, leading to better care and a more humane care of those suffering psychosis. 1990 saw the further introduction of the NHS and community care act 1990, following thatcher’s previous NHS review on panorama, this also incited a review of GP’s contracts and responsibilities. Many seemingly new policies and procedures were introduced, focusing around quality of care received, across all establishments, whether it be hospitals, GP surgeries, nurses carrying out home visits or institutionalized care