The National Health Service was born on July 5th 1948 under the Labour Government of Clement Attlee, with Aneurin Bevan as Minister for Health. It was created on the ideal that healthcare should be available to all, regardless of their wealth and means.

The NHS was set up on three core principles:

• It must meet the needs of everyone

• It must be free at the point of delivery

• It must be based on clinical need, not the ability to pay …

But does this still apply today? Mary Lester, an NHS nurse for 32 years, looks at how the major restructuring of our health service has got us to where we are now – with a health service that is being privatised, bit by bit…

Click here to read Mary's article in full