Posted on: 6 July 2023
Yesterday (5 July), the NHS marked its 75th anniversary, and organisations across West Yorkshire have celebrated the occasion in a variety of ways.
Colleagues have been taking part in physical challenges, including the NHS 75 park run this weekend. They have held coffee mornings, afternoon teas and quizzes to raise money for NHS charities and have contributed to case studies, videos, photography projects and a host of other activities.
For example, Calderdale has been shining a spotlight some of the people who work across health services in the area. In Kirklees, local school children planted a tree outside the new A&E department at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. In Bradford, colleagues have been invited to make a pledge – and this invitation is still open to everyone. Many public buildings across the area were lit up blue, in recognition of this important milestone, including Bradford town hall and mirror pool, Wainhouse Tower in Halifax, civic and hospital buildings in Leeds and Wakefield town hall.
Several colleagues also took part in national events and activities to mark the anniversary, including a service at Westminster Abbey. A research nurse from Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was one of five winners in a national photography competition celebrating the NHS, and twin sisters working for the ICB's digital programme were regional winners and finalists in the NHS Parliamentary Awards, which took place yesterday.
Top: this photo by Ewa Gasior, Senior Research Nurse at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT) is one of five winners of a nationwide photography competition celebrating the 75th anniversary of the NHS. The photo, captioned “We’ve got you, You’ve got this,” was chosen for how it managed to capture the NHS core value of care, whether care to patients, volunteers, or to each other as colleagues.
Left: local schoolchildren joined NHS workers at a tree-planting ceremony at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary for a double celebration, marking the NHS’s 75th birthday and the hospital’s new A&E department, which opens later this year.
Right: Jan Giles, Senior Primary Care Manager in Kirklees and Dr Razwan Ali, a GP and partner at The Junction Surgery, Moldgreen, were two of those attending a service at Westminster Abbey yesterday.
Cathy Elliott, Chair of the NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, said: “The NHS revolutionised healthcare when it was introduced in 1948. It was the first universal health system in the world, free at the point of delivery. Those principles remain as relevant and valued today as they were 75 years ago. We are delighted to mark this special birthday with celebrations across our Health and Care Partnership.”
Treating over a million people a day, the NHS has been a constant presence throughout our lives. Not only that, but it is also the biggest employer in Europe and the world's largest employer of highly skilled professionals. 1.3 million people across the health service in England are devoting their working lives to caring for others and improving the health and wellbeing of our nation – including around 100,000 here in West Yorkshire.
The 75th anniversary has led to much reflection on the history and achievements of the organisation. Here in West Yorkshire, these include the UK’s first kidney dialysis, pioneering chemotherapy research, the creation of emergency medicine, and the UK’s first single and then double hand transplant (see below for details)
Ms Elliott continued: “As well as reflecting on our past, the 75th anniversary is also an opportunity to think about what the next 75 years will look like. Integrated care systems like our West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, will be key to shaping the future of health services, starting with our new integrated care strategy, which sets out the strategic aims we have agreed with our partners for the next five years.
“We know there are challenges ahead, but we have already achieved so much, nationally, regionally and locally because of the people we support and the people we work with, so we ask everyone to join in the celebrations of this great organisation.”
Some highlights from the last 75 years:
· 1948: The NHS is born, the first time anywhere in the world that healthcare became accessible to everyone, not just those who could afford it. HMT Empire Windrush passengers disembarked at the Port of Tilbury, many of whom came to work for the NHS and are part of its history.
· 1955: Ultrasound was used for the first time to examine a baby
· 1956: First UK kidney dialysis performed. Leeds is the only hospital to offer this service for many years with patients being transferred here for this. Routine polio immunisation programme began
· 1957: Whooping cough vaccination was introduced
· 1960: Bradford Royal Infirmary makes international headlines following pioneering work in the fight against breast cancer by George Whyte Watson and Professor Robert Turner. Their research into chemotherapy gives the hospital a worldwide reputation for cancer treatment and changes the management of the disease forever.
· 1961: The contraceptive pill became available
· 1962: First total hip replacement in UK
· 1965: Huddersfield Royal Infirmary moved to current site in Lindley
· 1967: Casualty Surgeons’ Association established by Mr Maurice Ellis, a Leeds hospital consultant and the first A&E consultant in the UK. Leeds is now recognised as the birthplace of emergency medicine.
· 1968: Measles vaccine became available
· 1970: Rubella immunisation began. Airedale Hospital opened
· 1970: The first implantable heart pacemaker was first used
· 1972: CT scans were first used
· 1974: The Ambulance Service became part of the NHS. Wakefield School of Nursing established
· 1978: Louise Brown, the world’s first ‘test tube baby’ was born
· 1980: MRI scans were introduced
· 1983: Laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery was used successfully for the first time
· 1988: MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccination was introduced
· 1988: NHS breast and cervical cancer screening programmes were launched
· 1990: PET scans were introduced
· 1991: As part of government health reforms, BRI and St Luke’s became part of Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust.
· 1992: World’s first laser surgery was performed on babies in the womb
· 1994: The NHS Organ Donor Register was established
· 2001: Calderdale Royal Hospital opens
· 2002: South West Yorkshire Partnership Foundation NHS Trust, initially known as SW Yorkshire Mental Health Trust, established to serve Wakefield, Calderdale and Kirklees
· 2006: NHS bowel cancer screening programme launched
· 2006: Vaccination of babies against pneumococcal meningitis began
· 2007: Born in Bradford launched, one of the largest research studies in the world, tracking the lives of over 13,500 children and their families.
· 2008: Vaccine against cervical cancer introduced
· 2008: Men and women live an average of 10 years longer than they did before the creation of the NHS in 1948. In Leeds, the Bexley Wing opened, housing one of the largest and most comprehensive cancer units in Europe
· 2010: Leeds Children’s Hospital was created, bringing together all the specialist children’s services into one site
· 2011: The Bevan practice launched in Bradford, a social enterprise named after the NHS founder serving vulnerable communities excluded from mainstream primary care.
· 2012: First UK hand transplant – Leeds remains the only centre offering hand transplants in the UK
· 2013: Establishment of the major trauma centre at LGI – now one of the busiest in the country.
Clinical commissioning groups established to plan and fund local healthcare services
· 2015: Bradford District Care granted foundation status, becoming Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust
· 2016: First UK double hand transplant carried out in Leeds.
· 2017: New perinatal mental service established for new mothers and their families in Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield.
· 2018: West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership established, an integrated care system
· 2019: PinPoint test developed in West Yorkshire, a completely new type of blood test designed to optimise NHS urgent cancer referral pathways.
· 2020: World’s first COVID-19 vaccines developed and the start of the NHS’s biggest ever vaccination programme
· 2022: NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board established, replacing the five West Yorkshire CCGs in Bradford District and Craven, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield District.
Born and bred in Wakefield (BABi) launched, a world-leading research programme. that aims to find out what influences the health and wellbeing of families
· 2023: Mid Yorkshire Trust achieves teaching hospital status and becomes Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust. Plans for a newly built state-of-the-art Airedale Hospital get the go-ahead as part of the Government’s New Hospital programme. New A&E opens at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary