The NHS: A Difficult Beginning

Synopsis

Britain's National Health Service celebrates its sixtieth birthday on 5 July this year. Serving over one and a half million patients and their families every day, the NHS is the biggest service of its kind in the world. It is universally regarded as a national treasure - the most remarkable achievement of post war Britain.

Yet, surprisingly, the National Health Service very nearly did not happen at all. In the months leading to its launch it was bitterly opposed - by the Tory Party and the national press. But its most vicious and vocal opponents were the very people its existence depended on - surgeons, nurses, dentists and Britain's 20,000 doctors. To get the NHS at all required the persistence and determination of one man - Nye Bevan, Labour's minister of health.

This film tells the extraordinary story of the six months leading up to its traumatic birth.

Credits

Director

Ian MacMillan

Producer

Mark Hayhurst

Executive Producer

Edmund Coulthard

Executive Producer

Grant McKee

Broadcasts

1. Sat 5 Jul 2008
   20:30
   BBC Two (Wales, Wales (Analogue) only)
2. Sat 5 Jul 2008
   21:00
   BBC Two (except Wales, Wales (Analogue))
3. Wed 24 Sep 2008
   19:40
   BBC Four
4. Thu 25 Sep 2008
   02:15
   BBC Four
5. Sat 18 Oct 2008
   01:30
   BBC One
6. Tue 28 Jul 2009
   23:30
   BBC Four