The Evolution of the British Health Care System

Abstract

An understanding of how the British health care system evolved is necessary to place contemporary developments in context. We begin by looking at the system of health care which existed before the emergence of the NHS. This is followed by an examination of how and why the NHS was created. The experience of the NHS in the post-Second World War period up to the Royal Commission’s inquiry in the late 1970s is then considered. Finally, there is an analysis of the distinctive approach of Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government which posed a challenge to the ideas which underpinned the postwar health care system in Britain.