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On 5 July 1948, for the first time anywhere in the world, healthcare in Britain became free for all. Sally Sheard reveals the characters, innovations and heroic standoffs that have shaped the NHS.

Updated: daily
Episodes available: indefinitely

Episodes to download

  •

    Never Enough

    Fri 13 Jul 2018

    The NHS has never had enough money. How have health ministers dealt with it?

  • Nurse!

    Thu 12 Jul 2018

    From cleaning bedpans to treating broken bones: how nursing in the NHS has changed.

  • Too Much Medicine

    Wed 11 Jul 2018

    Breast screening highlighted the issue of over-diagnosis and over-treatment in the NHS.

  • Policing the Bugs

    Tue 10 Jul 2018

    When MRSA and other hospital bugs hit the headlines, the NHS had to clean up its act.

  • The New Plague

    Mon 9 Jul 2018

    How the NHS responded to a new fatal disease, Aids, in the 1980s.

  • Protest

    Fri 6 Jul 2018

    A baby died, wards were closed and nurses went on strike. An NHS crisis in the 1980s.

  • Unequal

    Thu 5 Jul 2018

    How the Black Report in 1980 and others exposed inequalities in health in deprived areas.

  • Cradle

    Wed 4 Jul 2018

    How the NHS responded to the birth of the first test tube baby in 1978.

  • Grave

    Tue 3 Jul 2018

    How Cecily Saunders' 'modern hospice' movement forced the NHS to plan for a 'good death'.

  • Scandal

    Mon 2 Jul 2018

    How unsung heroine Barbara Robb exposed glaring gaps in the care of the mentally ill.

  • Sexual Health Service

    Fri 29 Jun 2018

    How the contraceptive pill forced the NHS to acknowledge women sexual health needs.

  • Modern Hospital

    Thu 28 Jun 2018

    How the new 'modern' hospital designs changed the relationships of staff and patients.

  • Kidney Dilemma

    Wed 27 Jun 2018

    How the life-saving 'artificial kidney' machine brought moral dilemmas in its wake.

  • Hip Innovation

    Tue 26 Jun 2018

    How life in the new NHS gave some hospital doctors the time and freedom to innovate.

  • Cigarettes & Chimneys

    Mon 25 Jun 2018

    How lung cancer forced the new NHS to ask: should it just treat disease or prevent it too?

  • Free Specs & Teeth

    Fri 22 Jun 2018

    The highs and lows that followed the launch of the National Health Service on 5 July 1948.

  • Doctors Revolt

    Thu 21 Jun 2018

    How Aneurin Bevan convinced his harshest critics, the doctors, to sign up to his NHS.

  • Remedies of War

    Wed 20 Jun 2018

    How the Second World War helped to shape the National Health Service.

  • Pioneers

    Tue 19 Jun 2018

    How some enterprising individuals addressed the health problems in their own communities.

  • Poor Treatment

    Mon 18 Jun 2018

    How the nation coped before the NHS, with basic treatments and kitchen table surgery.

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