Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I want to say a huge thank you to all of you who work so tirelessly for the NHS.. you are all heroes and I salute you all
the NHS,” she said. Host Paul O’grady said Bevan had designed an NHS “that was free for everyone and not just for the wealthy. Let’s hope it remains that way”.
The health service’s first patient, Sylvia Beckingham, was admitted to hospital in Manchester to be treated for a liver condition on July 5, 1948.
Since then, the institution has grown to treat one million patients every 36 hours.
But last night’s ceremony showed how, in all the important ways, our NHS is still so much the same.
Last year, Freya Lewis, 15, was treated at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital with the same skill, kindness and dignity as Sylvia when she was seriously injured in the Manchester Arena bombing that killed her best friend.
Freya was honoured for raising £27,000 to repay the hospital that saved her life. Mum Alison said: “We
owe her life to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, which is why we are doing everything we can to help them – and will do for the rest of our lives.”
The red carpet at our awards was overflowing with other heroes, from pioneering surgeons to emergency medics and campaigning volunteers.
How proud Bevan, who dreamed up our NHS out of the rubble of the Second World War, would have been. As a humbled Prince William told the audience in a pre-recorded address: “Perhaps the most wonderful thing about the NHS is its people – we owe you all a huge thank you.” Last night was about the human stories behind the flashing of blue lights, the trolleys dashing through corridors, the long, painstaking