The NHS was established in 1948 to supply everybody in the UK with health care based upon their needs, and not on their capability to pay. The NHS is respected throughout the world for the standard of care it provides to clients.

Although the majority of people think of the NHS as being their local hospital, when you visit your dentist, your GP or even your regional pharmacist you might be talking to someone used by the NHS. And significantly there is a growing number of NHS staff whose work is not based in a hospital, but who work in regional health centres, GP practices or even in clients' own homes.

More individuals work for the NHS than any other organisation in the country: 1.3 million people in England alone. That is around one in every forty individuals. You will most likely understand a minimum of a single person who works for the NHS.