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Post-war Britain - the development of the National Health Service (NHS)

A teenage girl named Kirsty investigates how the newly formed NHS saved the life of her grandmother by identifying tuberculosis in the course of a routine x-ray examination. The NHS gave British people access to medical care which previously would have been unaffordable and this is explained through the memories of nurses who worked in the NHS. These personal memories are put into wider context by a historian, particularly the political manoeuvring which was needed to get the doctors to support the NHS. There is an analysis of the reaction to the NHS, its scale and impact on people鈥檚 lives including a slightly grisly look at the urgent need for dental treatment.

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Duration:

10 minutes