The NHS: A People's History

This episode covers the first quarter-century of the service and unveils a host of unique artefacts, including the graduation certificate of a doctor who only qualified on the NHS's first day and yet was thrown straight into surgery, one of the last remaining roadworthy Invacars, specialist vehicles adapted for disabled drivers that were handed out for free in the 1960s, and even a tiny booklet listing a family's expenditure on doctor's fees - a stark reminder of life before the NHS, when every GP visit came with a charge. Patients and staff tell their experiences of how the NHS was not immune from the prejudices of 1960s Britain. Actress Joan Hooley shares a copy of her first performance in the ITV drama Emergency Ward 10, where her role as a hospital doctor - who happened to be both a woman and black - sent shockwaves through society. We discover how a simple pair of earrings transports their owner back to a time in which draconian attitudes towards sex nearly cost her her life. And we see how an ornate ginger jar and the mysterious death of its owner exposed a British class system that allowed some GPs to operate with alarmingly little oversight. But despite an ever more fractured society, a medical revolution was happening, and as the decades progressed, it was clear that free access to medical care was dramatically improving the health of the nation. A leading orthopaedic surgeon reveals the groundbreaking device invented by an NHS doctor in the 50s which revolutionised hip replacement surgery, whilst the daughter of a GP unfurls an incredible scroll of records of every case of childhood disease he treated; fascinating primary evidence of the extraordinary impact of the nation's first NHS-funded vaccine campaign. Inspired by the remarkable objects still in their possession, this is the story of the ordinary people who make up an extraordinary service.

Alex Brooker continues to chart the history of the National Health Service via the treasured mementos and personal stories of patients and staff whose lives it has affected since its inception in 1948. This second episode covers a period in which the NHS expands beyond all recognition, as it is forced to evolve and adapt to the needs of an ever growing, and ever more diverse population, all against a background of social strife and the increasing pressures to privatise.

Alex Brooker continues to chart the history of the National Health Service via the treasured memories of patients and staff whose lives it has affected since its inception in 1948. This episode covers 1997 to the present day and unveils a whole host of unique, highly-personal artefacts. These include the homemade badges dedicated to the first surgeons to carry out gender reassignment surgery after it became available on the NHS, a nurse's uniform cherished since it was used in the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics and teddy bears lovingly made from the clothes of Ellen Linstead, one of the victims of the notorious Mid-Staffordshire abuse scandal in 2006. This is a preiod in which the ever-expanding and ever more diverse institution has grown unwieldy and almost impossibly expensive to manage. Budget cuts, privatisation and hospital closures become commonplace - but the public aren't prepared to see it disappear without a fight. Christine Wharrier and Peter Doyle wanted their NHS to keep pace with a society that no longer tolerated unequal conditions for men and women at work. They share th 'thank you' cards they were sent after they fought and won an extraordinary equal pay deal for female NHS employees, one of the biggest achieved in Europe at that time. The programme meets Chidi Ejimofo, consultant in emergency medicine, as he unfurls the huge placard he has kept ever since he protested against closures at Lewisham Hospital. Plus Jonny Banger shares the prototype of the t-shirt he designed in support of the junior doctor's strike, inspired by the treatment his mum received on the NHS.