# National Health Service begins (1948)

URL: https://english-history.com/timeline/1948-national-health-service-begins
Categories: main-event

The NHS opened under Health Minister Aneurin Bevan, providing medical care largely free at the point of use. Within the broader Postwar & Modern Uk period, decolonization, welfare institutions, migration, European integration and withdrawal, devolution and social change reshaped the modern United Kingdom. This event is placed at 5 July 1948 in the chronology so it can be read alongside the political, military, social and cultural changes around it. It became one of the defining institutions of the postwar welfare state and modern British identity.

## Why it matters
It became one of the defining institutions of the postwar welfare state and modern British identity.

Ruler at the time: [George VI](https://english-history.com/rulers/george-vi)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia topic lookup — National Health Service begins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=National+Health+Service+begins&go=Go)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — National Health Service begins](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=National+Health+Service+begins)
- [Wikipedia — Timeline of British history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_British_history)
- [The National Archives — Postwar collection](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/explore-by-time-period/postwar/)