A Historical Account

Abstract

While much has been written on the history of the health care system in the UK, to date the impact of gender in relation to its development has rarely been assessed. Contrary to political rhetoric on the implicitly neutral nature of health care provision, it has been highly gendered in its impact. Irrespective of whether one considers the implementation of the first public health programme at the start of the twentieth century or the introduction of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948, it is women, and not men, who have been the most adversely affected by developments in health care provision. With this understanding in mind — of the differential impact on gender — this chapter provides an historical account of health care provision in the UK throughout the twentieth century.