The New National Health Service Leaflet 1948

Ministry of Health and the Central Office Of Information: The New National Health Service leaflet, 1948. Source: National Health Service Western Isles Health Board via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_New_National_Health_Service_Leaflet_1948.pdf. Public domain.

The Beveridge Report of 1942 had recommended creating "comprehensive health and rehabilitation services for prevention and cure of disease". The Labour government elected in 1945 implemented this recommendation. The National Health Service was launched across the United Kingdom on 5 July 1948 and remains a cornerstone of the Welfare State. Unlike e.g. the German healthcare system, the NHS is funded primarily by taxation. Treatment, usually free at the point of delivery, is available to all legal residents of the UK.

Ministry of Health and the Central Office Of Information: The New National Health Service leaflet, 1948; source: National Health Service Western Isles Health Board via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.