Happy 75th birthday to the NHS today (5 July 2023) and thank you from all the Surrey Heath residents for your care
The NHS was founded in 1948 and was the first universal health system to be available to everyone and at no cost. Since then, the NHS has touched all our lives and treats over a million people a day in England.
Councillor Shaun Macdonald, Leader, Surrey Heath Borough Council said;
“Today marks a very important milestone for the NHS and the country. The incredible and committed team of people working for the NHS care for us when we are unwell or have an accident, carry out both routine and complex operations, treat cancer patients and bring new babies into the world safely. I am proud to have several doctors and support staff members in my close family and see their dedication to patients’ day to day and the toll caring takes.
Surrey Heath is home to Frimley Park Hospital, the first hospital in the country to be rated 'Outstanding' by the Care Quality Commission and provides care to residents both in Surrey Heath and in surrounding areas including Hampshire and Berkshire.
We are lucky to have a great network of GP practices, local chemists and dentists across the Borough, as well as many district and school nurses, health visitors, community physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and dieticians active in local communities, all doing their very best for our residents’ health. In recent years we have all become much more aware of the importance of mental well-being, so equally important today that we recognise the massive contribution of mental health services across the age span, and our learning disability services, with their specialist staff.
As a Council we work closely with our NHS partners, ensuring our residents receive the care and support they need to stay well. We do this by sharing healthcare information, working together to help improve health outcomes and increase physical activity and support the NHS through major healthcare needs such as the COVID pandemic.
During the Pandemic, and recovery, the Council enabled a COVID vaccination centre to be set up in the Council owned The Square shopping centre, hosted the COVID vaccination bus in locations across the borough, and helped to promote the ‘Check your Blood Pressure’ event which took place in Camberley town centre last year.
We thank all the NHS and support staff, past and present for their care and commitment, particularly those that are resident in Surrey Heath, and we look forward to continuing to support the NHS in their vital work.”
Achievements of the NHS
The NHS keeps us and our families healthy and well throughout our lives, from minor ailments to emergencies, operations, births to palliative care and has also achieved some incredible medical achievements.
- From Britain’s first kidney transplant in 1960, to Europe’s first liver transplant in 1968.
- From the world’s first CT scan on a patient in 1971, revolutionising the way doctors examine the body, to the world’s first test-tube baby born in 1978.
- Large-scale vaccination programmes protected children from whooping cough, measles and tuberculosis, and in 1999 the meningitis C vaccine was offered nationally in a world first.
- The world’s first liver, heart and lung transplant in 1987, pioneering new treatments, such as bionic eyes and, in more recent times, the world’s first rapid whole genome sequencing service for seriously ill babies and children.
- During the COVID pandemic, having a single national health service enabled research to be carried out at an unprecedented scale and find the world’s first effective treatment for COVID-19, dexamethasone, making it available across every hospital the same day it was approved. It also enabled the NHS to not just deliver the first accredited COVID-19 vaccine in the world but to rollout the NHS vaccine programme with a combination of speed and precision unseen elsewhere.