Like a much loved elderly relative, the National Health Service has endured more examinations and diagnoses than any other public institution. When Bevan first launched it, he knew that there would never be enough money to meet the overwhelming

Nurse!

Jul 12th, 2018 13m 43s

For many, the typical image of the British nurse includes their earthy sense of humour and resilience. They've been trained to conform to hospital rules and hierarchies, yet always find ways to cope with the pressures of this demanding career.

Too Much Medicine

Jul 12th, 2018 13m 42s

Screening the British public for the presence of disease, took the health service in a radically new direction. It was no longer just about symptoms. Certain diseases could be detected before a person even knew anything was wrong. Screening, ho

Policing the Bugs

Jul 12th, 2018 13m 54s

During the 1980s and 1990s, patients contracting infections in hospital, that antibiotics could no longer treat, dominated the headlines. The strict hygienic regimes, so beloved by matrons since the Nightingale era, had been undermined by a rel

The New Plague

Jul 12th, 2018 13m 41s

At the start of the 1980s a mysterious disease, AIDS, appeared in gay men. There was fear that it would become a new plague. Sally Sheard tells the story of how activists, doctors and politicians worked together to stop the disease spreading. A

Protest

Jul 6th, 2018 13m 36s

In a series tracing the decisive moments in the life of our National Health Service, historian Sally Sheard explores the recurrent crises caused by lack of funding. In 1987 a shortage of nursing staff lead to the death of a baby whose heart ope

Unequal

Jul 5th, 2018 13m 48s

In a series tracing the decisive moments in the life of our National Health Service, historian Sally Sheard looks at reports that highlighted the inequalities in health service provision around the country. The Black Report was commissioned by

Cradle

Jul 4th, 2018 13m 34s

In a series tracing the decisive moments in the life of our National Health Service, historian Sally Sheard looks at the arrival of the babies people never expected to see - conceived outside the human body - the miracle of IVF births.The NHS t

Grave

Jul 3rd, 2018 13m 35s

In a series tracing decisive moments in the life of our National Health Service, medical historian Sally Sheard reveals how Cecily Saunders and her modern hospice movement forced the NHS and the public to plan for a 'good death'.Up until the 19

Scandal

Jul 2nd, 2018 13m 29s

In a series tracing decisive moments in the life of our National Health Service, medical historian Sally Sheard reveals how the little-known campaigner Barbara Robb exposed glaring gaps in the care of the mentally ill, forgotten in the vast lon

Sexual Health Service

Jun 29th, 2018 13m 28s

In a series tracing decisive moments in the life of our National Health Service, medical historian Sally Sheard explores how the contraceptive pill forced the NHS to acknowledge all women's healthcare needs, sexual health included.When the NHS

Modern Hospital

Jun 28th, 2018 13m 33s

In a series tracing decisive moments in the life of our National Health Service, medical historian Sally Sheard tells the story of how the modern hospitals built in the early decades of the NHS transformed not only the lives of staff, who worke

Kidney Dilemma

Jun 27th, 2018 13m 17s

In a series tracing decisive moments in the life of our National Health Service, medical historian Sally Sheard explores how the life-saving invention of the 'artificial kidney' machine in the 1960s came at a cost, bringing moral dilemmas in it

Hip Innovation

Jun 26th, 2018 13m 47s

In a series tracing decisive moments in the life of our National Health Service, medical historian Sally Sheard reveals how the early years of the NHS gave doctors the opportunity and freedom to innovate, like John Charnley who invented the fir

Cigarettes & Chimneys

Jun 25th, 2018 13m 47s

In a series tracing decisive moments in the life of our National Health Service, medical historian Sally Sheard tells the story of a mysterious epidemic in the 1950s which forced the NHS to acknowledge its responsibility to not just treat disea

Free Specs & Teeth

Jun 22nd, 2018 13m 17s

In a series tracing decisive moments in the life of our National Health Service, medical historian Sally Sheard charts the highs and lows following the launch of the NHS on 5 July 1948.A world first achievement - Britain now provided free healt

Doctors Revolt

Jun 21st, 2018 13m 19s

In a series tracing decisive moments in the life of our National Health Service, medical historian Sally Sheard tells the story of Aneurin Bevan's fight to convince the doctors to sign up to his new health service - the very people he'd need to

Remedies of War

Jun 20th, 2018 13m 44s

In a series tracing decisive moments in the life of our National Health Service, medical historian Sally Sheard tells the story of how emergency medical provision during the Second World War gave the British public a taste of what a national he

Pioneers

Jun 19th, 2018 13m 42s

In a series tracing decisive moments in the life of our National Health Service, medical historian Sally Sheard tells the story of some enterprising individuals who took matters into their own hands to improve health in their own communities.Wh

Poor Treatment

Jun 18th, 2018 13m 39s

In a series tracing decisive moments in the life of our National Health Service, medical historian Sally Sheard begins by going back to the 1930s to reveal what life was like before the National Health Service began. Back then, the, nation's he