75 years of the NHS - 5th July 2023

5 July 2023 marks 75 years of the National Health Service.

When it was founded in 1948, the NHS was the first universal health system to be available to all, free at the point of delivery. Since then, the NHS has delivered Britain’s first heart transplant in 1958, Europe’s first liver transplant in 1968, the world’s first CT scan on a patient in 1971, and the world’s first test-tube baby born in 1978.

In 1999 the meningitis C vaccine was offered nationally in a world first, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, having a single national health service enabled the UK to carry out research at an unprecedented scale and find the world’s first effective treatment, dexamethasone, and the first accredited COVID-19 vaccine.

To mark the 75th anniversary of the NHS, we've created two collections of resources exploring healthcare, one aimed at primary-aged pupils, and one aimed at secondary-aged pupils.