143-745: West Park Hospital is a modern NHS adult psychiatric hospital in Darlington , County Durham , England. It is managed by the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust . The hospital was procured under a Private Finance Initiative ('PFI') contract, to replace outdated facilitates at the Pierremont Unit and the Beaumont Ward at Darlington Memorial Hospital and at the Gables Unit in Sedgefield , in 2002. It
286-542: A miner during his teens where he became involved in local miners' union politics. He was elected head of his Miners' Lodge when aged 19, where he frequently railed against management. He joined the Labour Party and attended Central Labour College in London. On his return to South Wales he struggled to find work, remaining unemployed for nearly three years before gaining employment as a union official, which led to him becoming
429-539: A 3.4% increase in funding every year to 2024, which would allow it to receive an extra £20bn a year in real terms funding. [dead link] There is concern that a high proportion of this money will go to service NHS debts rather than for improved patient care. In June 2018, it was reported that there were calls for the government to write off the NHS debt. Saffron Cordery of NHS Providers said that hospitals needed help to do their work without being up in deficit, as two-thirds were in
572-480: A National Health Service in 1944 with his consultative White Paper "A National Health Service" which was circulated in full and short versions to colleagues, as well as in newsreel. When Clement Attlee 's Labour Party won the 1945 election he appointed Aneurin Bevan as Health Minister . Bevan then embarked upon what the official historian of the NHS, Charles Webster , called an "audacious campaign" to take charge of
715-472: A bid to become deputy leader, losing out to Jim Griffiths . He instead stood again for the role of party treasurer and was duly elected, beating George Brown . Despite Bevan's criticism of the new party leader, Gaitskell decided to appoint him as Shadow Colonial Secretary, and then Shadow Foreign Secretary in 1956. Bevan was as critical of Nasserist Egypt 's seizure of the Suez Canal on 26 July 1956 as he
858-471: A butcher's boy at a local store. He worked at the butcher's for several months before leaving school, instead working in the local Ty-Trist Colliery . There he earned around ten shillings per week with most going to his parents to help support the family. He began attending fortnightly meetings of the local Plebs' League where he studied, among other things, Marxism . Bevan also joined the Tredegar branch of
1001-569: A deep burning hatred for the Tory Party that inflicted those bitter experiences on me. So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin. They condemned millions of first-class people to semi-starvation." The comment inspired the creation of the Vermin Club by angry Conservatives, who attacked Bevan for years for the metaphor. Labour Party deputy leader Herbert Morrison complained that Bevan's attack had backfired, for his words "did much more to make
1144-402: A disagreement with the site's deputy manager over Bevan reporting information to the miner's inspector. The pair went to work at Whitworth Colliery, but fell foul of management when Bevan refused to use cheaper second-hand timber as he deemed it unsafe. He was later fired for refusing to unload, and successfully challenged the motion but was moved to Pochin, generally considered a punishment due to
1287-567: A harsh critic of those he felt opposed the working man and woman. His targets included the Conservative Winston Churchill and the Liberal David Lloyd George , as well as Ramsay MacDonald and Margaret Bondfield from his own Labour party (he targeted the latter for her unwillingness to increase unemployment benefits). He had solid support from his constituency, being one of the few Labour MPs to be unopposed in
1430-456: A highly critical right-wing Labour MP Anthony Crosland . According to The Times Literary Supplement , the book was a " dithyramb with meanderings into the many side-tracks of Mr Bevan's private and public experience". In the opening page of the book, Bevan begins: "A young miner in a South Wales colliery, my concern was with the one practical question: Where does power lie in this particular state of Great Britain, and how can it be attained by
1573-488: A landslide victory for the Labour Party, giving it a large enough majority to allow the implementation of the party's manifesto commitments and to introduce a programme of far-reaching social reforms, that were collectively dubbed the " Welfare State ". These reforms were achieved in the face of great financial difficulty following the war. The new Prime Minister, Clement Attlee , appointed Bevan as Minister of Health, with
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#17328450846421716-666: A leader, he was cut out to be a prophet". In April 1954, Bevan resigned from the Shadow Cabinet, having been rebuked by Attlee after accusing the Labour leader of surrendering to American pressure over a proposed multi-national defence organisation in Asia and the Pacific . He later said that he had resigned his position to "call attention to the fact that their movement was in grave crisis", and stated his belief that he would have been party chairman by
1859-617: A leading figure in the 1926 general strike . In 1928, Bevan won a seat on Monmouthshire County Council and he was elected as the MP for Ebbw Vale the following year. He served as an MP for 31 years. In Parliament, he became a vocal critic of numerous other politicians from all parties, particularly Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George . After the war, Bevan was chosen as the Minister of Health in Clement Attlee 's new Labour government, becoming
2002-441: A left-wing group within the party became known as " Bevanites ". Attlee and Labour were ousted from power in a snap election held six months after Bevan's resignation, but Attlee continued on as Labour Party Leader. When Attlee retired from the leadership in 1955, Bevan unsuccessfully contested the party leadership with Hugh Gaitskell , but was appointed Shadow Colonial Secretary and later Shadow Foreign Secretary . In 1959, he
2145-506: A letter to the government on behalf of the Mosley group, raising concerns over its "failure to deal with unemployment". Mosley broke from the Labour Party in early 1931 to form the New Party , but Bevan refused to defect and instead announced that he had no intention of leaving the Labour Party. By 1932, Mosley's New Party had migrated from the left over to the far-right of British politics and
2288-592: A lot of coverage in the media. The Welsh and UK governments announced a partnership on 23 September 2024 to reduce NHS waiting lists in England and Wales during the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. This collaboration aimed to share best practices and tackle common challenges. Previously, Eluned Morgan rejected a Conservative proposal for treating Welsh patients in England. The Welsh Conservatives welcomed
2431-437: A majority of new homes built after the war. The aim was to create new homes and communities with a place for all sections of society : We should try to introduce in our modern villages and towns what was always the lovely feature of English and Welsh villages, where the doctor, the grocer, the butcher and the farm labourer all lived in the same street. I believe that is essential for the full life of citizen ... to see
2574-548: A member of a government that imposed charges on the National Health Service. The Labour MP David Marquand has stated that the savings were introduced by Gaitskell simply to "impose his will" upon Bevan who he saw as a political rival. Bevan resigned from his position two weeks later, stating both the proposed changes and the increase in military expenditure that necessitated the need for such proposals. Two other ministers, John Freeman and Harold Wilson , resigned at
2717-505: A remit that also covered housing. Thus, the responsibility for instituting a new and comprehensive National Health Service , as well as tackling the country's severe post-war housing shortage, was given to Bevan, the youngest member of Attlee's Cabinet in his first ministerial position at the age of 47. Although described in The Times as "an outstanding back-bench critic" and "one of (Labour's) most brilliant members in debate", his appointment
2860-505: A severe stammer as a child and, according to his younger sister Myfanwy, became "a lonely chap", due to the need to shy away from the attention it brought him. His father died by pneumoconiosis (a lung condition caused by long term inhalation of coal dust ) but no compensation was paid to him, as it was not classed as an industrial disease under the Workmen's Compensation Act . At the age of 13, in his last months of schooling, he worked as
3003-525: A uniform standard of consultant led care and expertise throughout the country and to replace the patchwork of voluntary and municipal hospitals which existed at that point. The latter – sale and purchase of goodwill – often placed new entrants to the GP profession under large amounts of debt. Along with this, the Medical Practices Committee was to oversee the distribution of GP practices – a proposal which
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#17328450846423146-526: A week was paid by the members of the local Miners' Lodge. His new job arrived in time for him to head the local miners against the colliery companies during the General Strike . When the strike started on 3 May 1926, Bevan soon emerged as one of the leaders of the South Wales miners. The miners remained on strike for six months. Bevan was largely responsible for the distribution of strike pay in Tredegar and
3289-596: A well-known local orator and was seen by his employers, the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company , as a troublemaker. The manager of the colliery found an excuse to get him dismissed . With the support of the Miners' Federation, the case was judged as one of victimisation and the company was forced to re-employ him. He and his brother Billy did eventually leave Ty-Tryst and worked at the Bedwellty pit, but were forced to move again after
3432-399: Is pure Socialism and as such it is opposed to the hedonism of capitalist society. Conservative opposition of the National Health Service scheme feared that the sudden access to free health care would be overrun. In its early stages this proved true, as the service went vastly over budget in its inaugural year, and Attlee was forced to make a radio address to the nation in an attempt to limit
3575-545: Is regardless of whether they derive a salary or wage from the organisation, or receive any type of funding or assistance from the organisation for the purposes of working overseas. This is in recognition of the fact that most missionaries would be unable to afford private health care and those working in developing countries should not effectively be penalised for their contribution to development and other work. Those who are not ordinarily resident (including British citizens who may have paid National Insurance contributions in
3718-572: Is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom , comprising the NHS in England, NHS Scotland and NHS Wales . Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland was created separately and is often locally referred to as "the NHS". The original three systems were established in 1948 (NHS Wales /GIG Cymru was founded in 1969) as part of major social reforms following
3861-612: The 1931 General Election , and this support grew through the 1930s and the period of the Great Depression . Soon after Bevan entered Parliament, he was briefly attracted to Smethwick Labour MP Oswald Mosley 's arguments, becoming one of the 17 signatories of the Mosley Memorandum in the context of the MacDonald government's repeated economic crises, including the doubling of unemployment levels . In January 1931, Bevan wrote
4004-678: The Battle of the Ebro , and he is a sergeant." Dunbar had been recommended for a commission, but rejected it himself to remain with his unit. Bevan was subject to further disciplinary action in 1944, when he deliberately voted against Labour's stance on new defence regulations. He also voiced criticism of trade union leaders, which drew complaints from both the Miners' Federation and the Trades Union Congress . An administrative committee voted 71 to 60 in favour of retaining Bevan as an MP, although it
4147-466: The Bedwellty Colliery, closed down ten months later. Bevan then endured another year of unemployment, the family surviving on his sister's wages, when his unemployment benefit was stopped due to her income, and his father's sick pay. In February 1925, his father died of pneumoconiosis , an illness caused by the inhalation of coal dust. In 1926 he found work as a paid union official. His wage of £5
4290-524: The European Health Insurance Card . Those from other countries with which the UK has reciprocal arrangements also qualify for free treatment. Since 6 April 2015, non-EEA nationals who are subject to immigration control must have the immigration status of indefinite leave to remain at the time of treatment and be properly settled, to be considered ordinarily resident. People not ordinarily resident in
4433-575: The Institute for Fiscal Studies had stated a 5% real-terms increase was needed for real change. Paul Johnson of the IFS said the 3.4% was greater than recent increases, but less than the long-term average. In July 2016, health experts said the money would "help stem further decline in the health service, but it's simply not enough to address the fundamental challenges facing the NHS, or fund essential improvements to services that are flagging." In November 2018, it
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4576-482: The Office for Budget Responsibility said that "the rising trend in health and social care spending and pensions will be adding something like another £75 billion spending over the next five years, £150 billion, potentially over the next decade" as if treatments are available to keep people alive longer, then people will want them. In July 2022, The Telegraph reported that the think tank Civitas found that health spending
4719-582: The Second World War . Before entering Parliament, Bevan was involved in miners' union politics and was a leading figure in the 1926 general strike . Bevan is widely regarded as one of the most influential left-wing politicians in British history. Raised in Monmouthshire , in modern day Blaenau Gwent , by a Welsh working-class family, he was the son of a coal miner and left school at 14. Bevan first worked as
4862-592: The Second World War . The founding principles were that services should be comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery—a health service based on clinical need, not ability to pay. Each service provides a comprehensive range of health services , provided without charge for residents of the United Kingdom apart from dental treatment and optical care. In England , NHS patients have to pay prescription charges ; some, such as those aged over 60, or those on certain state benefits, are exempt. Taken together,
5005-594: The Socialist Medical Association , successfully proposed a resolution at the 1934 Labour Party Conference that the party should be committed to the establishment of a State Health Service. Following the 1942 Beveridge Report 's recommendation to create "comprehensive health and rehabilitation services for prevention and cure of disease", cross-party consensus emerged on introducing a National Health Service of some description. Conservative MP and Health Minister, Henry Willink later advanced this notion of
5148-544: The South Wales Miners' Federation and became a trade union activist: he was head of his local Miners' Lodge at 19 years of age. He was called up for service during the First World War , and was briefly arrested when his sister Blodwen burnt his conscription papers and he failed to report for duty. Bevan appeared in court but was cleared when he produced confirmation that he suffered from nystagmus . Bevan became
5291-470: The 'Centre for Health Economics' at the University of York found that between 2004/05 and 2016/17 the productivity of the NHS has increased nearly two and a half times as quickly as the larger economy. Between 2010 and 2017, there was a cap of 1% on pay rises for staff continuing in the same role. Unions representing doctors, dentists, nurses and other health professionals have called on the government to end
5434-528: The 850,000 homes built in the four years immediately after the war ended was the biggest housing programme ever introduced – Bevan's rate of house-building was exceeded by his Conservative (indirect) successor, Harold Macmillan , who was able to complete some 300,000 new homes a year as Minister for Housing in the 1950s. These numbers were reached by lowering the quality standards originally put forward by Bevan, with council houses featuring gardens being largely dropped in favour of tower blocks and flats. Macmillan
5577-498: The BMA had dubbed him the " Tito of Tonypandy". They threatened to derail the National Health Service scheme before it had even begun, as medical practitioners continued to withhold their support just months before the launch of the service. After eighteen months of ongoing dispute between the Ministry of Health and the BMA, Bevan finally managed to win over the support of the vast majority of
5720-524: The Bedwellty Board of Guardians and offered Bevan advice on overcoming his stammer, stating "if you can't say it, you don't know it". Bevan followed his advice, often practising his speeches to his friends to perfect his speech and wording, and remarked that Conway's words were the "best advice I ever had". The Query club started in 1920 or 1921 and they met in Tredegar. They would collect money weekly for any member who needed it. The club intended to break
5863-575: The Civil Service to keep medicine supplies available in the case of a no-deal Brexit had to sign 26 Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) to prevent them from giving the public information. The figures were given on 21 December 2018 after Rushanara Ali asked a parliamentary question. Aneurin Bevan Aneurin " Nye " Bevan PC ( / ə ˈ n aɪ r ɪ n ˈ b ɛ v ən / ; Welsh: [aˈnəɨ.rɪn] ; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960)
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6006-685: The Commons in support of a motion of censure against the Churchill government. "The Prime Minister must realise that in this country there is a taunt on everyone's lips that if Rommel had been in the British Army he would still have been a sergeant ... There is a man in the British Army who flung 150,000 men across the Ebro in Spain, Michael Dunbar . He is at present a sergeant ... He was Chief of Staff in Spain, he won
6149-513: The EEA coming to the UK for a temporary stay of more than six months are required to pay an immigration health surcharge at the time of visa application, and will then be entitled to NHS treatment on the same basis as a resident. This includes overseas students with a visa to study at a recognised institution for six months or more, but not visitors on a tourist visa. In 2016 the surcharge was £200 per year, with exemptions and reductions in some cases. This
6292-595: The EU holding a valid European Health Insurance Card and persons from certain other countries with which the UK has reciprocal arrangements concerning health care can get emergency treatment without charge. The NHS is free at the point of use, for general practitioner (GP) and emergency treatment not including admission to hospital, to non-residents. People with the right to medical care in European Economic Area (EEA) nations are also entitled to free treatment by using
6435-520: The Foreign Office seem the last place a prudent Prime Minister would think of putting him at any time. His 'vermin' speech still resonated: imagination shuddered at a repetition of that on the international stage." Bevan was instead appointed Minister of Labour in January 1951 in place of George Isaacs . The move was seen by some as a sideways or backwards step, although a potential rearmament programme
6578-403: The GP's health and that of their patients at risk. The Royal College of Physicians surveyed doctors across the UK, with two-thirds maintaining patient safety had deteriorated during the year to 2018: 80% feared they would be unable to provide safe patient care in the coming year while 84% felt that increased pressure on the NHS was demoralising the workforce. In June 2018, at a time when the NHS
6721-559: The House respectively. However, Attlee commented that Bevan was "starting with me with a clean sheet" following his appointment. Bevan tested this newfound solidarity early on by arriving to a royal banquet at St James's Palace wearing a navy lounge suit. He earned a rebuke from Attlee, but Bevan contended that his Welsh mining constituency did not send him to Parliament to "dress up", and he declined to wear formal attire at further Buckingham Palace functions. The free National Health Service
6864-424: The Labour Party should refrain from giving Adolf Hitler the impression that Britain was divided, Bevan rejected this as sinister: The fear of Hitler is to be used to frighten the workers of Britain into silence. In short Hitler is to rule Britain by proxy. If we accept the contention that the common enemy is Hitler and not the British capitalist class, then certainly Churchill is right. But it means abandonment of
7007-482: The Labour Party, including even anti-fascist Tories. When the government introduced voluntary national service in December 1938, Bevan argued that Labour should demand the nationalisation of the armaments industry, support the democratic government of Spain and sign an Anglo - Soviet pact in return for its support. When Labour supported the government's scheme with no such conditions, Bevan denounced Labour for imploring
7150-714: The Labour leadership's approach was partly based on his view that the leadership of the Labour Party was not demanding assurances from the Government on its foreign policy as a price for the party's support for re-armament as expressed in his speech to the Bournemouth Conference of that year: ...we should say to the country we are prepared to make whatever sacrifices are necessary, to give whatever arms are necessary to fight Fascist powers and in order to consolidate world peace... The Labour conference voted to drop its opposition to rearmament. When Winston Churchill said that
7293-425: The MP for Ebbw Vale. In March 1955, when Britain was preparing for Operation Grapple , the testing of its first hydrogen bomb , Bevan led a revolt of 57 Labour MPs and abstained on a key vote. The Parliamentary Labour Party voted 141 to 113 to withdraw the whip from him, but it was restored within a month, due to his popularity. After the 1955 general election , Attlee retired as Labour leader. Bevan contested
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#17328450846427436-622: The NHS England published the NHS Long Term Plan . The Guardian reported that data for 2020 suggests a change, and that the doctors' trade union and professional association , the BMA , say this was largely due to raised spending during the pandemic and the effect of Covid on the whole economy, since the GDP of the UK dropped more than that of all other G7 nations. The BMA also said in December 2022 that
7579-400: The NHS experienced "historical underfunding and under-resourcing" during the ten years before COVID. The King's Fund maintains The investment in services started in 2021 was badly needed, but despite it restoring key services and performance standards will require years. Shortages of workers and growing staff numbers experiencing burnout and thinking of leaving the NHS may stop progress. If
7722-446: The NHS has among the lowest numbers of doctors, nurses and hospital beds per capita in the western world. In May 2018, it was said that nurses within the NHS said that patient care was compromised by the shortage of nurses and the lack of experienced nurses with the necessary qualifications. In June 2018 it was reported that the NHS performed below average in preventing deaths from cancer, strokes and heart disease. In September 2018 it
7865-727: The NHS. The NHS is the largest employer in Europe, with one in every 25 adults in England working for the NHS. As of February 2023, NHS England employed 1.4 million staff. Nursing staff accounted for the largest cohort at more than 330,000 employees, followed by clinical support staff at 290,000, scientific and technical staff at 163,000 and doctors at 133,000. In June 2018, the Royal College of Physicians calculated that medical training places need to be increased from 7,500 to 15,000 by 2030 to take account of part-time working among other factors. At that time there were 47,800 consultants working in
8008-547: The Party". He strongly criticised the National Government 's rearmament plans in the face of the rise of Nazi Germany , saying to the Labour conference in autumn 1937: If the immediate international situation is used as an excuse to get us to drop our opposition to the rearmament programme of the Government, the next phase must be that we must desist from any industrial or political action that may disturb national unity in
8151-590: The Tories work and vote ... than Conservative Central Office could have done". It was later claimed that his words had cost Labour more than two million votes. In 1951, with the retirement of Ernest Bevin , Bevan was a leading candidate for Foreign Secretary. Prime Minister Attlee rejected Bevan in favour of Herbert Morrison because he distrusted Bevan's personality. In his biography of Bevan, John Campbell wrote: "Bevan's impetuous temperament, undiplomatic tone and reputation as an extreme left-winger combined to make
8294-442: The UK are in general not entitled to free hospital treatment, with some exceptions such as refugees . People not ordinarily resident may be subject to an interview to establish their eligibility, which must be resolved before non-emergency treatment can commence. Patients who do not qualify for free treatment are asked to pay in advance or to sign a written undertaking to pay, except for emergency treatment. People from outside
8437-464: The UK can use the NHS without being asked to pay the full cost of the service, though NHS dentistry and optometry do have standard charges in each of the four national health services in the UK. In addition, most patients in England have to pay charges for prescriptions though some patients are exempted. Aneurin Bevan , in considering the provision of NHS services to overseas visitors wrote, in 1952, that it would be "unwise as well as mean to withhold
8580-452: The UK had increased by more than any country despite the significant drop in national income due to the COVID pandemic. The Labour Government elected in 2024 stated that their policy was that the "NHS is broken". They announced an immediate stocktake of current pressures and the reasons for them led by Labour peer Lord Ara Darzi. This was to be followed by development of a new "10 year plan" for
8723-456: The UK of which 15,700 were physicians. About 20% of consultants work less than full-time. Brexit , in 2020, was predicted to affect medical practitioners from EU countries who worked in the NHS, accounting for more than 1-in-10 doctors at the time. A 2017 survey suggested 60% of these doctors were considering leaving, with a record 17,197 EU staff leaving the NHS in 2016. The figures led to calls to reassure European workers over their future in
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#17328450846428866-487: The UK. A study by the Centre for Progressive Policy called for NHS trusts to become "exemplar employers" by improving social mobility and pay especially for those "trusts in poorer places where they can play a particularly large role in determining the economic wellbeing of the local population." They found the NHS to be " a middle ranking employer in comparison to other large organisations and falls short on social mobility and
9009-517: The beginning of the 1945 general election campaign, Bevan told his audience that his goal was to eliminate any opposition to the Labour programme: "We have been the dreamers, we have been the sufferers, now we are the builders. We enter this campaign at this general election, not merely to get rid of the Tory majority. We want the complete political extinction of the Tory Party, and twenty-five years of Labour Government." The 1945 general election resulted in
9152-542: The cap on health service pay, claiming the cap is damaging the health service and damaging patient care. In 2017, the pay rise was likely to be below the level of inflation and to mean a real-terms pay cut. In 2017, the House of Commons Library research predicted that that real-terms NHS funding per head was to fall in 2018–19, and stay the same for two years afterwards. In January 2018, The Guardian reported that GPs faced excessive workloads throughout Britain and that this put
9295-464: The class struggle and the subservience of the British workers to their own employers. By March 1938, Bevan was writing in Tribune that Churchill's warnings about German intentions for Czechoslovakia were "a diapason of majestic harmony" compared to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain 's "thin, listless trickle". Bevan now called unsuccessfully for a Popular Front against fascism under the leadership of
9438-423: The college and was a brief follower of Noah Ablett , developing his left-wing political outlook. Reciting long passages by William Morris with the help of an elocution tutor, Bevan gradually began to overcome the stammer that he had since childhood. Bevan remained at the college until 1921, attending at a time when a number of his contemporaries from South Wales, including Jim Griffiths , were also students at
9581-413: The college. Some historians have questioned how influential the college was on his political development. He was not, apparently, one of the most diligent students, and found it difficult to follow an organised routine, including arising early for breakfast. Bevan was one of the founding members of the "Query Club" with his brother Billy and Walter Conway . Conway was a local miner who had been elected to
9724-481: The consultants. This is often quoted as "I stuffed their mouths with gold". Some 2,688 voluntary and municipal hospitals in England and Wales were nationalised and came under Bevan's supervisory control as Health Minister. Two of the key elements of Bevan's proposals were this nationalisation of the hospital services and the abolition of the sale and purchase of goodwill by general practitioners. The former aimed to provide
9867-489: The country in 1938. In 1936 he joined the board of the new socialist newspaper Tribune . His agitations for a united socialist front of all parties of the left (including the Communist Party of Great Britain ) led to his expulsion from the Labour Party from March to November 1939 (along with Stafford Cripps , C. P. Trevelyan and three others). Bevan and Cripps had previously been threatened with disciplinary action by
10010-742: The day, Bevan attended a ceremony at the Park Hospital, Trafford (now Trafford General), at which he symbolically received the keys to the hospital. The scheme was achieved having overcome political opposition from both the Conservative Party and from within his own party. Confrontation with the British Medical Association (BMA) was led by Charles Hill , who published a letter in the British Medical Journal describing Bevan as "a complete and uncontrolled dictator". Members of
10153-592: The department is making 4,000 training positions available for GPs every year, which help create an extra 50 million appointments annually. In 2023, a report revealed that NHS staff had faced over 20,000 sexual misconduct from patients from 2017 to 2022 across 212 NHS Trusts. Some of the claims included rape, sexual harassment, stalking, and sexualised remarks at staff from patients. In the report, female staff members were told by hospitals to continue caring for patients even after there were issues regarding abuse or harassment without further safeguards in place. Other parts of
10296-411: The face of Fascist aggression. Along that road is endless retreat, and at the end of it a voluntary totalitarian state with ourselves erecting the barbed wire around. You cannot collaborate, you cannot accept the logic of collaboration on a first class issue like rearmament, and at the same time evade the implications of collaboration all along the line when the occasion demands it. His opposition to
10439-457: The first of many controversies over changes to the NHS throughout its history. From its earliest days, the cultural history of the NHS has shown its place in British society reflected and debated in film, TV, cartoons and literature. The NHS had a prominent slot during the 2012 London Summer Olympics opening ceremony directed by Danny Boyle , being described as "the institution which more than any other unites our nation". Everyone living in
10582-400: The flag of left-wing socialism aloft throughout—which gave him a matchless authority amongst the constituency parties and in party conference". Bevan's last decade saw his political position weaken year by year as he failed to find a winning issue that would make use of his skills. In 1952 Bevan published In Place of Fear , "the most widely read socialist book" of the period, according to
10725-669: The following year if he had remained. In July of the same year, Bevan announced his intention to stand for election as the Treasurer of the Labour Party against Hugh Gaitskell . His nomination received a severe blow on the same day it was announced, when two unions that traditionally sided with the left, the National Union of Mineworkers and the Amalgamated Engineering Union , pledged their support for his opponent. Although unsuccessful in his bid, he did celebrate 25 years as
10868-581: The form the NHS finally took. Bevan's National Health Service was proposed in Westminster legislation for England and Wales from 1946 and Scotland from 1947, and the Northern Ireland Parliament 's Public Health Services Act 1947. NHS Wales was split from NHS (England) in 1969 when control was passed to the Secretary of State for Wales . According to one history of the NHS, "In some respects
11011-532: The formation of the Council of Action, an organisation that helped to raise money and provide food for the miners. In 1928, Bevan won a seat on Monmouthshire County Council in the Tredegar Central Division. He lost the seat in 1931, but regained it in 1932 before deciding against seeking re-election in 1934. With his success in 1928, he was picked as the Labour Party candidate for Ebbw Vale (displacing
11154-424: The four services in 2015–16 employed around 1.6 million people with a combined budget of £136.7 billion. In 2024, the total health sector workforce across the United Kingdom was 1,499,368 making it the seventh largest employer and second largest non-military public organisation in the world. When purchasing consumables such as medications, the four healthcare services have significant market power that influences
11297-656: The free service from the visitor to Britain. How do we distinguish a visitor from anybody else? Are British citizens to carry means of identification everywhere to prove that they are not visitors? For if the sheep are to be separated from the goats both must be classified. What began as an attempt to keep the Health Service for ourselves would end by being a nuisance to everybody." The provision of free treatment to non-UK-residents, formerly interpreted liberally, has been increasingly restricted, with new overseas visitor hospital charging regulations introduced in 2015. Citizens of
11440-608: The global price, typically keeping prices lower. A small number of products are procured jointly through contracts shared between services. Several other countries directly rely on Britain's assessments for their own decisions on state-financed drug reimbursements. Calls for a "unified medical service" can be dated back to the Minority Report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Law in 1909. Somerville Hastings , President of
11583-574: The heavy censorship imposed on radio and newspapers and wartime Defence Regulation 18B , which gave the Home Secretary the powers to intern citizens. Bevan called for the nationalisation of the coal industry and advocated the opening of a Second Front in Western Europe to help the Soviet Union in its fight with Germany. In one of his most noted speeches made against Churchill, he railed that
11726-495: The hold that the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company had on the town by becoming members of pivotal groups in the community. Upon returning home in 1921, he found that the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company refused to re-employ him. Bevan ended up in a fist fight with a group of miners who refused to strike over his rejection. Apart from a six-week period as a labourer for Tredegar Council, he did not find work until 1924 and his employer,
11869-510: The leadership against both Morrison and Labour right-winger Gaitskell, but it was Gaitskell who emerged victorious with more than half of the ballots. Bevan's remark that "I know the right kind of political Leader for the Labour Party is a kind of desiccated calculating machine" was assumed to refer to Gaitskell, although Bevan denied it (commenting upon Gaitskell's record as Chancellor of the Exchequer as having "proved" this). Bevan also failed in
12012-462: The living tapestry of a mixed community. Substantial bombing damage, with over 700,000 homes needing repair in London alone, and the continued existence of pre-war slums in many parts of the country made the task of housing reform particularly challenging for Bevan. Indeed, these factors, exacerbated by post-war restrictions on the availability of building materials and skilled labour, collectively served to limit Bevan's achievements in this area. Bevan
12155-403: The management of health services by local authorities, which proved to be a bedrock of his work in founding the National Health Service. The collective principle asserts that ... no society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means. On the "appointed day", 5 July 1948, Bevan's National Health Service Act 1946 came into force. On
12298-591: The medical profession by offering a couple of minor concessions, including allowing consultants to keep their own private practices and continuing to allow doctors to be paid in capitation fees rather than salaries, but without compromising the fundamental principles of his National Health Service proposals. At a dinner in late 1955 or early 1956 to celebrate the publication of the Guillebaud Report into NHS costs Bevan remarked to Julian Tudor Hart "ultimately I had to stuff their mouths with gold" about his handling of
12441-696: The needs of everyone, that it be free at the point of delivery, and that it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay. Three years after the founding of the NHS, Bevan resigned from the Labour government in opposition to the introduction of charges for the provision of dentures, dentists, and glasses ; resigning in support was fellow minister and future Prime Minister Harold Wilson . The following year, Winston Churchill 's Conservative government introduced prescription fees. However, Wilson's government abolished them in 1965; they were later re-introduced but with exemptions for those on low income. These charges were
12584-451: The new funding is to be efficiently used the NHS will need a comprehensive and fully funded workforce strategy to ensure future supply of staff. In March 2022, Rishi Sunak doubled the annual efficiency target for the NHS in England. The 2.2 per cent target would deliver annual savings of saving of £4.75 billion. At the same time the additional Covid funding is being removed in 2022–23. At the same time Sir Charles Bean , recently leader of
12727-583: The new partnership as overdue, while Plaid Cymru criticized it as insufficient for addressing deeper issues within the Welsh NHS. There was a concern that a disorderly Brexit might have compromised patients' access to vital medicines. In February 2018, many medical organisations planned for a worst-case Brexit scenario because "time is running out" for a transition deal to follow the UK's formal exit that occurred in March 2019. Pharmaceutical organisations working with
12870-512: The next five years, he was the leader of the left wing of the Labour Party, who became known as Bevanites . They criticised the right-wing " Gaitskellites " high defence expenditure (especially for nuclear weapons ), called for better relations with the Soviet Union , and opposed the party leader, Clement Attlee, on most issues. According to Richard Crossman , Bevan hated "the in-fighting which you have to do in politics.... He wasn't cut out to be
13013-467: The number of GPs has fallen by 1,622. Some family doctors have 2,500 patients each, forcing patients to attend A&E instead. Certain regions have fewer than 50 GPs per 100,000 people, while other regions have more than 70, presenting a challenge to the NHS's founding principle of equal treatment. A growing number of family doctors are reporting unsustainable workloads, and many have chosen to work part-time. A Health and Social Care spokesperson said that
13156-423: The option to live in owner occupation or the private sector if they so chose (with grants made available to owner-occupiers and private landlords to bring dwellings up to decent standards). The removal of the criteria of "working class" from local authority housing provision was seen as a first step, widening access to the council housing that was becoming an ever larger part of the UK housing stock and which made up
13299-462: The party for sharing a stage with a Communist speaker, and all party members were threatened with expulsion if they were associated with the Popular Front. Bevan and another expelled MP, George Strauss , appealed against the decision. Bevan was readmitted to the party on 20 December 1939, after agreeing "to refrain from conducting or taking part in campaigns in opposition to the declared policy of
13442-420: The past) are liable to charges for services. There are some other categories of people who are exempt from the residence requirements such as specific government workers and those in the armed forces stationed overseas. In 2016, the systems were 98.8% funded from general taxation and National Insurance contributions, plus small amounts from patient charges for some services. As of 2016, about 10% of GDP
13585-530: The patients. In wards which had not closed staff sometimes worked under stress due to staff shortages. It was also predicted then, that Brexit was likely to aggravate those problems. In November 2019, it was reported that due to the shortage of nurses the NHS was then relying on less qualified staff like healthcare assistants and nursing associates. For the period between 2010 and 2018 the Health Foundation funded research by Birmingham University said there
13728-567: The people on recruiting platforms to put themselves under the leadership of their opponents. The Military Training Act 1939 reintroduced conscription six months later, and Bevan joined the rest of the Labour Party in opposing it, calling it "the complete abandonment of any hope of a successful struggle against the weight of wealth in Great Britain". He emphasised that the government had no arguments to persuade young men to fight "except merely in another squalid attempt to defend themselves against
13871-425: The personal relationship between doctor and patient. Conservative MPs voted in favour of their amendment to Bevan's Bill to maintain local control and ownership of hospitals and against Bevan's plan for national ownership of all hospitals. The Labour government defeated Conservative amendments and went ahead with the NHS as it remains today; a single large national organisation (with devolved equivalents) which forced
14014-774: The poor site conditions. 1919 saw the foundation of the Tredegar Labour Party and Bevan was selected as one of four Labour delegates to contest the West Ward in the Tredegar Urban District election. Although he was defeated, he gained attention from his peers and he won a scholarship to the Central Labour College in London, sponsored by the South Wales Miners' Federation. There, he spent two years studying economics, politics and history. He read Marxism at
14157-555: The previous Coalition Minister had withdrawn after opposition from the British Medical Association. Bevan said: The National Health Service and the Welfare State have come to be used as interchangeable terms, and in the mouths of some people as terms of reproach. Why this is so it is not difficult to understand, if you view everything from the angle of a strictly individualistic competitive society. A free health service
14300-491: The prime minister "wins debate after debate and loses battle after battle". Churchill would later label Bevan "a squalid nuisance". Churchill was a frequent target of Bevan's, who already held a dislike of him following his intervention in the Tonypandy riots and the 1926 United Kingdom general strike which Bevan considered heavy handed. Bevan believed that the key to the war was the involvement of Russia and considered Churchill
14443-448: The real Living Wage", and ranked trusts using a 'good employer index'. Ambulance trusts were ranked worst. On 6 June 2022, The Guardian said that a survey of more than 20,000 frontline staff by the nursing trade union and professional body, the Royal College of Nursing , found that only a quarter of shifts had the planned number of registered nurses on duty. The NHS is facing a shortage of general practitioners . From 2015 to 2022,
14586-514: The redistribution of international swag". In August 1939 came the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , a non-aggression pact between the Nazi and Soviet governments that shocked democratic governments around the world. In Parliament, Bevan argued that this was the logical outcome of the government's foreign policy. He wanted the war to be not just a fight against fascism but a war for socialism. Bevan
14729-419: The remaining 20% split between buildings, equipment, training costs, medical equipment, catering and cleaning. Nearly 80% of the total budget is distributed by local trusts in line with the particular health priorities in their areas. When the NHS was launched in 1948 it had a budget of £437 million (equivalent to £20.07 billion in 2023). In 2016–2017, the budget was £122.5 billion. In 1955/56 health spending
14872-437: The report showed that staff were pressured into not reporting grievances. In June 2023, the delayed NHS Long term Workforce Plan was announced, set up to train more doctors and nurses and create new roles within the health service. In 2024, multiple NHS hospitals started mandating radiographers to ask all male patients aged 12 to 55 if they were pregnant. This policy was instated as part of an 'inclusivity' drive and received
15015-465: The same time. Bevan received unanimous support for his actions from his local Labour constituency leaders. Later the same year, the Labour Party were defeated at the general election . After Bevan left the Health ministry in 1951 he could never regain his level of success and feuded with fellow Labour leaders, using his strong political base as a weapon. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says: "Bevan alone kept
15158-423: The sitting MP Evan Davies ), and easily held the seat at the 1929 General Election . Bevan gained more than twice the votes of Liberal candidate William Griffiths, receiving 20,000 votes to Griffiths' 8,000. In keeping with his background, Bevan described his initial thoughts on the House of Commons as a shrine to "the most conservative of all religions – ancestor worship". In Parliament, he became noticed as
15301-585: The strain on the system. Bevan countered that the initial overspending was down to years of underinvestment in the British medical system prior to the Second World War: by the start of the 1950s, the early overspending had come to an end. When Bevan was made a minister in 1945, he envisaged the social housing sector as a housing service similar to the National Health Service, ensuring that everyone had access to decent and affordable homes, with people still having
15444-431: The transfer of ownership of hospitals from local authorities and charities to the new NHS. Bevan's principle of ownership with no private sector involvement has since been diluted, with later Labour governments implementing large scale financing arrangements with private builders in private finance initiatives and joint ventures. At its launch by Bevan on 5 July 1948 it had at its heart three core principles: That it meet
15587-521: The war had made things easier. In anticipation of massive air raid casualties, the Emergency Medical Service had brought the country's municipal and voluntary hospitals into one umbrella organisation, showing that a national hospital service was possible." Webster wrote in 2002 that "the Luftwaffe achieved in months what had defeated politicians and planners for at least two decades." The NHS
15730-461: The workers?" In March 1952, a poorly prepared Bevan came off the worse in an evening Commons debate on health with Conservative backbencher Iain Macleod , whose performance led Churchill to appoint him as Minister of Health some six weeks after the debate. Out of office, Bevan soon exacerbated the split within the Labour Party between the right and the left which weakened the party in the 1950s. For
15873-413: The year to 2018. It was also said that some expressed doubt over whether May could carry out this proposed increase in funding. The next day, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt backed the extra £20bn annual increase in NHS funding and responded to criticism by stating that taxation would be used to carry out the funding and that details would be revealed at the next budget. In June 2018 it was reported that
16016-612: The youngest member of the cabinet at 47, with his remit also including housing. Inspired by the Tredegar Medical Aid Society in his hometown in South Wales , Bevan led the campaign for a National Health Service to provide medical care free at point-of-need across the UK, regardless of wealth. Despite resistance from opposition parties and the British Medical Association , the National Health Service Act 1946
16159-450: Was 11.2% of the public services budget. In 2015/16 it was 29.7%. This equates to an average rise in spending over the full 60-year period of about 4% a year once inflation has been taken into account. Under the Blair government spending levels increased by around 6% a year on average. Between 2010 and 2017 spending growth was constrained to just over 1% a year. A 2019 report said that a study by
16302-701: Was a Baptist and his mother a Methodist , although he became an atheist. He was converted to socialism by the writings of Robert Blatchford in The Clarion and began attending meetings of the Independent Labour Party following the founding of its branch in Tredegar. It was around this time that he first "reject[ed] his chapel upbringing" and became an atheist. He was a member of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion and wrote his own poems, one of which won an inter-chapel eisteddfod . Aneurin's mother
16445-541: Was a Welsh Labour Party politician, noted for spearheading the creation of the British National Health Service during his tenure as Minister of Health in Clement Attlee 's government. He is also known for his wider contribution to the founding of the British welfare state . He was first elected as MP for Ebbw Vale in 1929, and used his Parliamentary platform to make a number of influential criticisms of Winston Churchill and his government during
16588-452: Was also able to concentrate full-time on the housing crisis, instead of being obliged, like Bevan, to combine his housing portfolio with that for Health (which for Bevan took the higher priority: he once stated tongue-in-cheek that he devoted "five minutes a week to housing"). At a party rally in 1948, during a speech, Bevan stated: "That is why no amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction, can eradicate from my heart
16731-431: Was also from Tredegar, but had English roots: her grandfather was from Hereford . Bevan's maternal grandfather John was a blacksmith who had moved to Tredegar from Hay-on-Wye to work in the Bedwellty mines. The couple had ten children altogether—six boys and four girls—although four died in infancy and one died at the age of eight. Aneurin Bevan attended Sirhowy Elementary School, where he achieved little. He developed
16874-466: Was also limited due to his desire for new homes to be bigger and of better quality than the ones they were being built to replace, based on the recommendations of a 1943 report by the Dudley Committee, and a shortage of skilled workers to undertake the work. 1946 saw the completion of 55,600 new homes; this rose to 139,600 in 1947 and 227,600 in 1948. While this was not an insignificant achievement –
17017-626: Was announced that party discipline was to be strengthened in future. He believed that the Second World War would give Britain the opportunity to create "a new society". He often quoted an 1855 passage from Karl Marx that was published in The New York Times in 1865: "The redeeming feature of war is that it puts a nation to the test. As exposure to the atmosphere reduces all mummies to instant dissolution, so war passes supreme judgment upon social systems that have outlived their vitality." At
17160-451: Was born in Tredegar but his family had originally hailed from Carmarthenshire , and he followed his own father into the mines, starting work at 5:30am each day and returning home late in the evening. He was adept at construction and added several modern features when the family moved to 7 Charles Street, installing the first gas stove in the street, an inside toilet and running hot water. Both Bevan's parents were Nonconformists : his father
17303-588: Was born on 15 November 1897 at 32 Charles Street in Tredegar , Monmouthshire , a working-class mining town , where an estimated 90 per cent of the town's inhabitants relied on the local mines for employment. The town was situated in the South Wales Valleys and was on the northern edge of the South Wales coalfield . He was the son of coal miner David Bevan and Phoebe ( née Prothero), a seamstress. David Bevan
17446-417: Was born out of the ideal that healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth. Although being freely accessible regardless of wealth maintained Henry Willink 's principle of free healthcare for all, Conservative MPs were in favour of maintaining local administration of the NHS through existing arrangements with local authorities fearing that an NHS which owned hospitals on a national scale would lose
17589-594: Was built at a cost of £16 million and was officially opened by Alan Milburn , Minister for the Cabinet Office , in December 2004. At the time of opening the new facility had 24 rooms for older people, 60 bedrooms for acute adult patients and 10 intensive care beds. In 2009 the Trust decided to exercise a break clause in the contract allowing it to terminate the contract early by paying £18 million up front. National Health Service The National Health Service ( NHS )
17732-576: Was costing about £10,000 per household in the UK. This, they said, reflected the third highest share of GDP of any nation in Europe. This was said to show that the UK "has one of the most costly health systems – and some of the worst outcomes". The findings were made before the government increased health spending significantly, with a 1.25% increase in National Insurance , in April 2022. Civitas said this showed evidence "runaway" spending as health spending in
17875-400: Was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and held the post for a year until his death in 1960 from stomach cancer, at the age of 62. His death led to "an outpouring of national mourning". In 2004, more than 44 years after his death, he was voted first in a list of 100 Welsh Heroes , having been credited for his contribution to the founding of the welfare state in the UK. Aneurin Bevan
18018-506: Was expected to make the post of future importance. During his tenure, Bevan helped to secure a deal for railwaymen which provided them with a significant pay increase. However, three months after his appointment, Hugh Gaitskell introduced a proposal of prescription charges for dental care and spectacles—created to save a potential £25m to meet the financial demands imposed by the Korean War . An infuriated Bevan stated that he would never be
18161-534: Was increased for the welfare state expenditure by a large increase in marginal tax rates for wealthy business owners in particular, as part of what the Labour government largely saw as the redistribution of the wealth created by the working-class from the owners of large-scale industry to the workers. Having been a member of the Cottage Hospital Management Committee around 1928 and serving as chairman in 1929–30, Bevan had received an insight into
18304-473: Was increased to £400 in 2018. The discounted rate for students and those on the Youth Mobility Scheme will increase from £150 to £300. From 15 January 2007, anyone who is working outside the UK as a missionary for an organisation with its principal place of business in the UK is fully exempt from NHS charges for services that would normally be provided free of charge to those resident in the UK. This
18447-543: Was insufficient and falling NHS capital spending that put patient care and put staff productivity at risk. The Health Foundation said that £3.5 billion more a year would be required to get capital spending to the OECD average. Spending limits were effecting service efficiency, and patient care. Shortages of equipment and equipment failures had an impact as did relying on ageing diagnostic equipment. In 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced that NHS in England would receive
18590-636: Was of the subsequent Anglo-French military response . He compared Gamal Abdel Nasser with Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves , from One Thousand and One Nights . He was a vocal critic of the Conservative government's actions in the Suez Crisis , noticeably delivering high-profile speeches at a protest rally in Trafalgar Square on 4 November 1956, and criticising the government's actions and arguments in
18733-405: Was paid for directly through public money. Bevan had been inspired by the Tredegar Medical Aid Society in his hometown, where residents would pay a subscription that would fund access for all of the town's inhabitants to have free access to medical services such as nursing or dental care. This system proved so popular that 20,000 people supported the organisation during the 1930s. Government income
18876-544: Was passed and launched in 1948, nationalising more than 2,500 hospitals within the United Kingdom. Bevan was named Minister of Labour in 1951, but resigned after two months in office, when the Attlee government proposed the introduction of prescription charges for dental and vision care and decided to transfer funds from the National Insurance Fund to pay for rearmament. His influence waned after his departure, although
19019-551: Was rebranded as the British Union of Fascists . Bevan's past association with Mosley would be used against him in subsequent years by his political rivals. He married fellow Socialist MP Jennie Lee in 1934, after they met in London. Described as "more left-wing than Nye", Lee became a considerable influence on Bevan's political career. They were early supporters of the socialists in the Spanish Civil War , and Bevan visited
19162-405: Was regarded as a relative surprise, given his previous disciplinary issues. Bevan had clashed frequently with Attlee during his time as an MP, believing that the Labour leader failed to apply enough pressure on the Tory government during the war. He had also seen disputes with some of Attlee's closest allies, Ernest Bevin and Herbert Morrison , who were appointed Foreign Secretary and Leader of
19305-411: Was relieved that the country had united against Nazi Germany in the fight against fascism to provide a common enemy away from the working class. He was a strong critic of Chamberlain, arguing that his old rival Winston Churchill should become prime minister. During the Second World War he was one of the main leaders of the left in the Commons, opposing the wartime Coalition government . Bevan opposed
19448-551: Was reported that Cancer Research UK maintained that more NHS cancer personnel were needed to enable the UK to catch up The NHS in England was expanding early diagnosis services with the goal of increasing the proportion of cancers diagnosed early (at stages 1 and 2) from 53% to 75% in the decade to 2028. In September 2018, it was reported that the NHS was the first health service in Europe to negotiate coverage for novel CAR-T cancer therapy, with agreement reached within 10 days of its European marketing authorisation. On 7 January 2019,
19591-507: Was reported that death rates from breast cancer were falling faster in Britain than in any other of the six largest countries in Europe, and were estimated then to have improved beyond the European average. In October 2018, according to Breast Cancer Care , 72% of NHS trusts across the UK did not provide dedicated specialist nurses for patients with incurable breast cancer." In September 2019 it
19734-479: Was reported that staff shortages at histology departments were delaying diagnosis and start of treatment for cancer patients. In England and Scotland cancer wards and children's wards have to close because the hospital cannot attract sufficient qualified doctors and nurses to run the wards safely. In November 2018 it was reported that cancer patients and child patients were having to travel very long distances to get treatment and their relatives had to travel far to visit
19877-475: Was short of doctors, foreign doctors were forced to leave the UK due to visa restrictions. A study reported in November 2018 found that a fifth of doctors had faced bullying from seniors in the previous year due to pressure at work. In May 2018 it was reported that the NHS was under-resourced compared to health provisions in other developed nations. A King's Fund study of OECD data from 21 nations, revealed that
20020-531: Was spent on health and was the most spent in the public sector. In 2019, the UK spent roughly 10.2% of GDP on healthcare compared to 11.7% in Germany and 11.1% in France. The money to pay for the NHS comes directly from taxation. The 2008/09 budget roughly equated to a contribution of £1,980 per person in the UK. Some 60% of the NHS budget is used to pay staff. A further 20% pays for pharmaceuticals and other supplies, with
20163-620: Was the prime minister". His fierce opposition made him unpopular with some portions of the public at the time; his wife later described how the couple would frequently receive parcels filled with excrement at their home. Bevan was critical of the leadership of the British Army , which he felt was class bound and inflexible. After General Neil Ritchie 's retreat across Cyrenaica early in 1942 and his disastrous defeat by General Erwin Rommel at Gazala , Bevan made one of his most memorable speeches in
20306-494: Was thought that inflation may erode the real value of this funding increase. As part of the 2018 funding increase the UK Government asked the NHS in England to produce a 10-year plan as to how this funding would be used. In September 2019, it was reported that cancer survival rates in the UK had been rising fast but probably still lagged behind the best results internationally, mainly because of late diagnosis. In March 2019 it
20449-539: Was too focused on the intervention of the United States. Bevan also feared that allowing Churchill to continue unopposed and unchallenged in Parliament during the war would leave him almost unbeatable for the Labour Party in future elections. Historian Max Hastings described Bevan's role in Parliament during the war as "his figures were accurate but his scorn was at odds with the spirit of the moment—full of gratitude, as
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