GOOD HEALTH: REFLECTIONS ON THE NHS AT 70

A SENIOR health official has paid tribute to the Jewish community’s contribution to the NHS as the health service prepares to mark its 70th anniversary next week.

Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, thanked the generations of Jewish physicians, research scientists, nurses, carers, and volunteers who have worked for the NHS since it was established on July 5, 1948.

He said “countless others from across the Jewish community” had made enormous contributions to the success of the health service.

When it was established with the opening of Park Hospital in Manchester by Aneurin Bevan, the then Labour Health Secretary, it was the first time free healthcare at the point of need became a right for everyone.

Mr Stevens said 1948 was “a momentous year, with the creation of both the State of Israel and the British National Health Service”.

Baroness Neuberger is due to speak at a service at Westminster Abbey on Thursday to pay tribute to the NHS.

Explaining how the service had helped her, Rabbi Neuberger said a Britain without it “does not bear thinking about. I think it would be terrible”.

She was worried about the service becoming privatised or moving to an insurance-based system similar to that in the United States.

“The NHS is bloody brilliant. We rely on it. I have had babies on it.

“As I’ve got older I use it quite a bit and my doctor will always try to squeeze me in if I need it.

“No one has to worry whether they can afford it. There is enough inequality in our society, but getting equal access to healthcare makes us stand out.”

Baroness Neuberger said she was worried negative attitudes towards immigration and Brexit would put off medical professionals coming to the UK to work in the NHS in the future.

“We should really support our NHS more; it is wonderful that people want to come here from other countries and work, but we have to be careful we don’t drive them away,” she said.

The NHS is bloody brilliant — we rely on it’