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Britain's National Health Service (NHS) opened on 5 July 1948. It brought hospitals, family doctors and other services into one system, paid for mainly through taxes, so that anyone could be treated without paying at the time of care.

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The story behind the card

The plan grew out of the 1942 Beveridge Report, in which the economist William Beveridge proposed a comprehensive health service as part of a welfare system for post-war Britain. Aneurin Bevan, a former coal miner from Wales and health minister in Clement Attlee's Labour government, pushed it through despite opposition from many doctors. On its first day the NHS took over some 2,700 hospitals in England and Wales. Before 1948 people relied on charity hospitals, council hospitals and insurance schemes, but coverage was patchy and many women and children were left out. The care did not stay entirely free: charges for glasses and false teeth came in 1951, leading Bevan to resign, and prescription charges followed in 1952.

Türkçe oku
Britanya'nın Ulusal Sağlık Servisi (NHS) 5 Temmuz 1948'de hizmete girdi. Hastaneleri, aile hekimlerini ve öteki sağlık hizmetlerini, parası büyük ölçüde vergilerden karşılanan tek bir sistemde topladı. Böylece herkes, doktora ya da hastaneye gittiğinde cebinden para çıkmadan tedavi görebildi.

Planın kökleri 1942 tarihli Beveridge Raporu'na uzanır. İktisatçı William Beveridge bu raporda, savaş sonrası Britanya için kapsamlı bir sosyal güvenlik sistemi ve onun parçası olarak herkese açık bir sağlık hizmeti önermişti. Planı hayata geçiren, Clement Attlee'nin İşçi Partisi hükümetinde sağlık bakanı olan Aneurin Bevan'dı. Galler'de maden işçiliğinden gelen Bevan, pek çok doktorun karşı çıkmasına rağmen geri adım atmadı. NHS ilk gün İngiltere ve Galler'de 2.700 kadar hastaneyi devraldı. 1948'den önce de hayır kurumlarının ve belediyelerin hastaneleri, sigorta düzenleri vardı; ama bunlar herkesi kapsamıyordu, birçok kadın ve çocuk dışarıda kalıyordu. Hizmet tamamen ücretsiz de kalmadı: 1951'de gözlük ve takma diş için ücret alınmaya başlandı, Bevan buna tepki olarak istifa etti; 1952'de de ilaç reçetelerine ücret getirildi.

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Background reading: National Health Service
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