NHS Flashcards
What is the NHS?
A free healthcare service in Britain.
The NHS was introduced in
1946
Problems before NHS
Child mortality, people rarely made it to old age, no cure for pneumonia or scarlet fever, only working men got health insurance
Problems with the NHS
Free therefore people took advantage, it was very expensive
Dentistry before NHS
Tooth decay, when people reached 21 they had all their teeth removed because it was cheaper than going to the dentist, people shared denchers, took tonsils out for the sake of it
Long term impact:
child mortality dropped, women could go to the doctor, TB cured, more people lived longer
Hospital care before NHS?
Charity or Municipal Hospitals
What is a municipal hospital?
Comparable to workhouse, horrific, people never came out, used for the elderly to die in
What is charity hospital?
Difficulty funding, fundraising events, patients paid and rich people donated, public appeals but most resulted in bankruptcy
What was the initial impact when the NHS was introduced?
Crowding around hospital for care, many people with serious illnesses could now be treated
What were the triggers for change?
SMA wanted a free health care system for the state, world war 2 (had to make specialised hospitals and didn’t want too many soldiers to get injured
Who were the oppositions to the NHS?
Tory (conservative government), GP’s because they didn’t want to lose money from paying patients
What has changed? NHS in 2010
prescriptions are paid for if you are over 18, dentistry and opticians must be paid for, more technology, poor people get free prescriptions, better ambulances, cancer, sti’s, dementure
What was the beveridge report?
identified five “Giant Evils” in society: squalor, ignorance, want, idleness, and disease, and went on to propose widespread reform to the system of social welfare to address these.
When was the beveridge report?
1942
