England and the NHS is facing the biggest baby boom in 40 years, just as cutbacks in maternity budgets hit our hospitals. More than a quarter of UK Heads of Midwifery reported that their budget has been cut in the last 12 months, and the Royal College of Midwives has warned that this is putting NHS Maternity Services under enormous pressure.
New figures suggest that more than 700000 babies will be born in England this year, the first time such a level has been reached since 1971. Birth rates have been …

The London 2012 Olympics began in spectacular style with Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony being watched by millions of people around the world.
It paid homage to the National Health Service, which was featured as one of Britain’s proudest achievements during the £27m extravaganza. More than 600 real life nurses were amongst the 10,000 people who had volunteered to take part. Boyle said that the volunteers who came from the NHS were “proud people” that “work for something that they truly, truly believe in.” He added, “One of the reasons we put …

The BBC has discovered that poor quality surgical instruments which are not fit for purpose are being supplied to the NHS. Panorama has found that this imported substandard equipment can put patients at risk, by causing life threatening infections and injuries. Faults include rough edges, steel burrs, and corroded metals – any of which will have serious implications if used in an operating theatre. Poor quality surgical instruments have been identified as a likely cause of MRSA infections, as instruments with rough edges have caused microscopic holes in surgical gloves, …

BMA calls for an end to child labour in surgical instrument industry (issued by BMA Scotland Monday 22 Feb 2010) The BMA has today [Monday 22 February 2010] highlighted the dangerous working conditions in Pakistan that lie behind the manufacturing of surgical instruments purchased by the NHS. At the beginning of Fairtrade Fortnight, the BMA is calling on the NHS in Scotland to adopt new guidance on ethical purchasing.
The BMA’s Medical Fair and Ethical Trade group has just launched an information campaign telling doctors …

The NHS was born out of a long-held ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth. So, how did it all start?

Aneurin Bevan, founder of the National Health Service was born in 1897.
Bevan left school at 13 and began working in a local colliery.
He became a Trades Union Activist and won a scholarship to study in London. It was during this period that he became convinced by the ideas of socialism.
In 1929 he was elected as a Labour Member of Parliament.
After the landslide Labour …