TY - JOUR T1 - Happy Birthday NHS JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 307 LP - 307 DO - 10.3399/bjgp18X697541 VL - 68 IS - 672 AU - Roger Jones Y1 - 2018/07/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/68/672/307.abstract N2 - Mahatma Gandhi is credited with saying that a nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members. The UK should be proud of its National Health Service, which still protects the vulnerable, takes away the fear of the financial consequences of illness (but no longer, alas, of social care), and greets patients with a smile rather than a request to see their credit card. The ideas of service, commitment, and altruism and the principle that health care is not a business but a social good, are woven into the fabric of British society. Commercialisation of health care will have consequences far greater than simply having to pay for medical treatment. Our front cover shows the 1946 National Health Service Act, which came into effect on 5 July 1948 to create the National Health Service for England and Wales. However, the ideas that shaped the NHS were those that created … ER -