ABSTRACT
The postwar history of medical care in the UK is essentially the story of the National Health Service (NHS). 1 The 1946 National Health Service Act nationalized one thousand voluntary hospitals and two thousand local authority hospitals, made provisions for universal free access to a GP and provided for free dental and ophthalmic services as well as free supplies of dentures, spectacles and medicines. Thus, when the NHS was set up, all services could be obtained free at the point of use. These services were to be paid for by a combination of National Insurance contributions, rates and general taxation.
