Moments of Care | NHS at 70

The National Health Service (NHS) has stood at the centre of everyday life in the UK for over 70 years.

The NHS has provided healthcare for all citizens, free at the point of access, since 5 July 1948. It has been the UK’s largest employer since the 1960s. Since 2017 NHS at 70 has worked with volunteers across the four nations of the UK to record stories from patients, staff and the public. This new public Archive of NHS history will enable everybody to discover more about the place of the NHS in all our lives, past, present and future.

Capturing and sharing ‘moments of care’, this exhibition is a taster of the diverse collection of voices you can find in our Archive. All our human experiences are reflected in the history of this unique institution.

The history of the NHS is the story of our lives in the UK since 1948.

This Digital Exhibition accompanies our 'Moments of Care' exhibition which we had planned to tour the UK through 2020. We will have more details about new dates in the future.

Image of Antony Redmond

Tony Redmond

Professor Tony Redmond, a specialist in international emergency medicine, reflects on his experience setting up a field hospital during the Kurdish Refugee Crisis in 1991.

Anaesthetist holding childs hand

Moments of Care: Exhibition Tour

Our 'Moments of Care' exhibition is touring the UK in 2020. Find out how you can get involved here.

Zoe Williams credit James Cannon

Zoe Williams

Discover why for Zoe being a GP in the NHS remains essential to all other aspects of her professional career in medicine and health.

June Rosen pictured at Trafford Hospital, 5th July 2018

June Rosen

June, a retired physiotherapist, remembers taking Aneurin Bevan breakfast in bed on the day he launched the NHS in 1948!

Gwen Crossley as a student nurse in 1964

Gwen Crossley

Gwen, a retired nurse and health visitor, reflects on the impact she had through her work.

A hand holding a pill box

Robert Downes

Robert, a community HIV nurse, reflects on being proud of his work.

Heritage trail plaque on building of Tredegar Medical Aid Society (credit: NHS at 70)

Philip Prosser

Philip received treatment as a child through the Tredegar Medical Aid Society.

Human stem cell embedded in a 3D matrix, Cryo SEM. Credit: Sílvia A Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman, KCL.

Peter McDade

Discover how Peter coped with boredom whilst recovering in hospital from a stem cell transplant.

Nina Vekaria when nursing (Credit: Nina Vekaria)

Nina Vekaria

Nina discusses cultural differences in attitudes to cancer and her experience as a clinical trial manager and a carer.

A neonatal patient

Ngozi Edi-Osagie

Consultant neonatologist Ngozi reflects on the journey parents face in special care baby units.