75 years of the NHS

Today marks 75 years of the National Health Service. Treating over a million people a day in England, the NHS touches all of our lives. When it was founded in 1948, the NHS was the first universal health system to be available to all, free at the point of delivery. The NHS has delivered huge medical advances, including 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.

NHS activity

• The NHS sees about 1.3m people a day, which is equal to the entire population of Estonia.
• 10 years ago in the year 2011/12 the number was 1.25 million.
• There are 1,600 babies born a day/one birth every 54 seconds.
• The NHS has more patients sleep in our beds each night than there are hotel rooms in London (140.000).
• The NHS cleans an area the size of Gibraltar every day.
• The NHS provides up to 227 meals every minute for staff, patients, and visitors – that’s 326,880 meals a day, which is the same as feeding a meal to the entire population of Shropshire.
• The NHS accounts for 40% of all public sector emissions and 3.5% of all road transport. All NHS trusts now have a green plan in place which will save more than 1 million tonnes of carbon over the next three years (same as taking 520,000 cars off the road)