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National Health Service Act 1948

The successes of this were:

• the National Health Service (NHS) was established in 1948 - it provided free access to doctors, dentists, opticians and hospitals
• doctors, dentists and opticians were inundated with patients queuing up for treatment that they had previously been unable to afford

The limitations of this were:

• prescriptions rose from 7 million per month before the NHS to 13.5 million per month in September 1948
• by 1950 the NHS was costing £358 million per year
• the Government had to backtrack on its principle of a free service, by introducing charges for spectacles and dental treatment