Unit 3 - The NHS

Question 1

Which of the Five Giants from Beveridge’s report was about health?

Answer 1

Disease. (The other four were Squalor, Ignorance, Want, and Idleness.)

Question 2

What did Beveridge recommend in his report to improve the health of the British people?

Answer 2

He recommended that there should be a National Health Service that was completely free.

Question 3

What was the name of the Minister of Health who oversaw the introduction of the NHS?

Answer 3

The Minister of Health in the 1945 Labour Government was Aneurin Bevan. He was sometimes known as Nye Bevan.

Question 4

When did the NHS actually start operating?

Answer 4

5 July 1948

Question 5

When was the National Health Service Act introduced?

Answer 5

1946

Question 6

What did the National Health Service Bill propose when it was first announced?

Answer 6

(1) All hospitals would be taken over and put under thirteen regional health boards, which would be controlled by the Ministry of Health.
(2) All doctors would be paid a salary, instead of receiving fees for each of their patients.
(3) Doctors would not be allowed to set up new practices in areas where there were already enough doctors. Instead they would be encouraged to move to areas where there were insufficient doctors.
(4) Lastly, doctors would not be allowed to buy and sell practices and with them lists of patients.

Question 7

What was the BMA and who did it represent?

Answer 7

The British Medical Association represented 51,000 GPs and hospital doctors.

Question 8

Who led the campaign against the National Health Service Bill?

Answer 8

Th BMA set up a campaign to fight the NHS Bill. It was led by two doctors, Guy Dain and Charles Hill. Charles Hill was well known as the ‘Radio Doctor’. He had made many broadcasts answering questions on the BBC. Hill was also used by the Conservative Party in its campaign against the NHS.

Question 9

What concessions did Aneurin Bevan make to the National Health Service Bill to get the doctors to support it?

Answer 9

Consultants would be able to work part-time for the NHS and so continue with their private patients. They would also be able to use private beds in NHS hospitals to treat their private patients. Bevan also agreed that doctors would not be paid solely by a salary; they would also receive a fee for every patient on their list. Bevan also agreed that doctors who joined the NHS would be able to retain private patients and the fees that they received for treating them.

Question 10

How many doctors opposed the National Health Service Bill when it came out?

Answer 10

In 1947 a poll organised by the BMA showed that 40,814 doctors were against joining the NHS, while only 4,735 were in favour.

Question 11

What were people entitled to under the new National Health Service?

Answer 11

Everyone in Britain was entitled to completely free medical care. This included visits to doctors, prescriptions, hospital treatment and operations, emergency services, dental treatment and false teeth, opticians and free spectacles and vaccinations and clinics.

Question 12

How were hospitals run under the new National Health Service?

Answer 12

All the hospitals in the country (about 3,000) were taken over by the government and doctors were paid by the state.

Question 13

What difference did the new NHS make to the way ordinary people viewed their GP?

Answer 13

The GP soon became the ‘Family Doctor’. Not somebody people were frightened to visit because of the likely cost, but somebody who could be called on in times of need. Some elderly people began to make regular visits to their GPs for reassurance and inevitably costs rose.

Question 14

What did Aneurin Bevan admit privately that he had done in order to get the support of doctors for the NHS?

Answer 14

He admitted that “I stuffed their mouths with gold,” meaning that he had promised the doctors a large amount of money in order to get them to agree to the NHS.

Question 15

Who was the leader of the Labour Government when the NHS was introduced?

Answer 15

Clement Attlee.

Question 16

What is a GP?

Answer 16

GP stands for General Practitioner, and is a general doctor who treats minor illnesses in a local surgery.

Question 17

Who did some angry doctors compare Aneurin Bevan to?

Answer 17

Some compared him to Hitler and the Nazis. One doctor wrote: “I have examined the National Health Service Bill and it looks uncommonly like the first step, and a big one, towards National Socialism [Nazism] as practised in Germany. The medical services there were put under the dictatorship of a ‘Medical Führer’.”

Question 18

Why did many doctors oppose the National Health Service Bill?

Answer 18

Many feared that they would lose their independence, because they would be employed by the government. They also feared losing money, because they could no longer charge patients what they wanted.

Question 19

Why was there a growing mood amongst the British people in favour of a National Health Service by the end of World War II?

Answer 19

There was a sense of unity in the country by the end of the war, and a sense that everyone - rich and poor - should be rewarded and treated well, because everyone had contributed to the war effort and had suffered badly. Also, the government controlled everyone’s during the war, so it made sense that the government would look after people’s health too.

Question 20

How did evacuation make people want a National Health Service?

Answer 20

Many poor people from the East End of London were evacuated to well-off middle-class families in the country. Many of the children from poor families had fleas, head lice or skin complaints like ringworm or scabies. Middle-class people realised that the poor needed access to healthcare.

Question 21

How did you get healthcare before the NHS?

Answer 21

Before the NHS, doctors, dentists and opticians all charged for appointments and medicines. This meant that the poor often did not go to see the doctor because they had no money to pay, or could not buy the expensive medicines that the doctors prescribed.

Question 22

Why did Aneurin Bevan resign from the government in 1951?

Answer 22

He resigned because the government decided to introduce charges for dental and optical treatment - you could no longer see the dentist or optician for free. These charges were introduced because they were the most expensive parts of the NHS.

Question 23

What criticisms did some people have about the NHS after it started in 1948?

Answer 23

One the one hand some said it encouraged people who wanted something for nothing and that taxpayers’ money was being needlessly squandered. Some disliked the fact that there was still private practice. This would lead to twin standards – better care for those that could afford to pay.

Question 24

How many treatments had the NHS one year after it started?

Answer 24

In October 1949, the Minister for Health, Aneurin Bevan announced what had happened since July 1948: 187,000,000 prescriptions had been provided; 5,250,000 pairs of glasses had been prescribed and 8,500,000 people had been treated at dentists.

Question 25

What happened from July 1948 onwards to people’s lives?

Answer 25

Suddenly people’s lives began to change. They could now go to the doctor whenever they were ill without worrying about having to pay. It made a huge difference to their lives. In 1948 there was a big rush for these services for the first time. Many people had put off going for treatment because of the cost.