The National Health Service - The Appointed Day; Before and After

Abstract

I wonder whether being in my eighties is an excuse or a recommendation for offering an article to Res Medica; however, it is said that the recall of memory is easier for earlier than for later years. My comments may be colloquial and informal rather than statistical and academic and of necessity they will be of a biographical flavour. My experience of Medicine, pre and post NHS, falls between four dates; Qualification 1944, Consultant Appointment 1963, Retirement 1984 and today 2005. The Appointed Day for the inauguration of the National Health Service in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland was the 5th July, 1948.