LONDON (AP) 鈥 It鈥檚 unusual to throw a birthday party for a health care system, but that鈥檚 exactly what the U.K. did for the 好色tv Health Service, a beloved but increasingly creaky institution that turned 75 on Wednesday.
The date was marked with charity tea parties, royal visits and a service of thanksgiving at London鈥檚 Westminster Abbey complete with hymns and prayers. It was a fitting tribute for an institution that is often likened to Britain鈥檚 secular religion 鈥 though one in which some people are losing faith.
Backlogs, treatment delays, funding gaps and have created an increasingly threadbare and overstretched system. Three respected health think tanks warned Wednesday that the NHS is 鈥渋n critical condition鈥 and won鈥檛 make it to 100 without more money and better long-term planning.
鈥淧ressures on services are extreme, and public satisfaction is at its lowest since it first began to be tracked 40 years ago,鈥 the King鈥檚 Fund, Health Foundation and Nuffield Trust said in an open letter. But, they added, 鈥渄espite this, public support for the NHS as an institution is rock solid.鈥
for what politicians call 鈥渙ur NHS鈥 is striking, and at times puzzling, to outsiders. Dancing pushing children on hospital beds formed a key part of the opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics, to the bemusement of many non-British viewers.
Founded in a country determined to build a fairer society out of the ruins of World War II, the NHS provides free health care to citizens and residents, funded through taxation.
Its anniversary is also the 75th birthday of Aneira Thomas, the first person born into the new health service, just after midnight on July 5, 1948.
鈥淚 used to be introduced by my mother as 鈥橳his is my 好色tv Health baby,'鈥 said Thomas, whose parents named her after the country's postwar health minister, Aneurin 鈥淣ye鈥 Bevan, considered the father of the NHS.
鈥淎s a child, I didn鈥檛 understand the significance of it,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t was when I had children myself that I appreciated the care that I had.鈥
Ellie Orton, chief executive of NHS Charities Together, a network of groups that supports the health service, said the NHS regularly comes up on top when people are asked 鈥渨hat鈥檚 the thing that they hold most dear in the U.K.鈥
鈥淎nd when we ask them what鈥檚 the career that they hold in the highest esteem, they say it鈥檚 the NHS workforce,鈥 she said.
Critics say that affection prevents discussion of the flaws of an unwieldy behemoth that employs more than 1 million people and has struggled for years to cope with increasing life expectancy, rising demand and fluctuating political priorities.
Sajid Javid, who served as health secretary under former , argued this week that the service was 鈥渦nsustainable" but politicians are afraid to say so because most proposals for change -- whether fees, higher taxes or major restructuring -- are politically unpalatable.
鈥淲ithout fundamental change, the supply of health care will continue to be unable to keep up with surging demand,鈥 Javid wrote in the Times of London, calling for an independent commission to look at reform options.
The U.K. is not alone in having a health care system under increasing pressure. Most wealthy Western countries -- bar the United States 鈥 have built their health systems on a form of socialized medicine. The U.K. model is unusual in relying almost entirely on taxation rather than insurance or a blend of the two.
Since a Conservative-led government introduced public spending cuts in 2010 in the wake of the global financial crisis, NHS funding has grown by about 1% a year in real terms, apart from a surge during . But demand is growing much faster, as the British population grows larger and older.
The pandemic also sucked up resources, drained staff physically and emotionally, and created a huge backlog of delayed tests and treatments.
Britain鈥檚 departure from the European Union in 2020, which ended the automatic right of EU citizens to live in Britain, made it harder to recruit medical staff from other European countries to fill staffing gaps.
The King鈥檚 Fund compared health systems in almost 20 nations and found the NHS at best placed in the middle of the pack.
鈥淭he U.K. performs well on protecting people from some of the financial costs of ill health but lags behind its peers on important health care outcomes, including life expectancy and deaths,鈥 the health charity said in a report published last week.
All the main U.K. political parties pay tribute to the NHS and promise to protect it. Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the son of a doctor and a pharmacist, gave a Bible reading at Wednesday鈥檚 Westminster Abbey service, where the NHS was hailed by its chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, as "a cornerstone of national life and our shared identity.鈥
But Sunak鈥檚 government has been at loggerheads for a year with unions representing nurses, doctors and ambulance crews, who have staged a series of strikes to seek pay raises to match surging inflation.
Thomas, the NHS baby, worked as a mental health nurse in the NHS and remains a passionate advocate for the service. It treated her children when they were seriously ill and allowed her family a quality of care it could once only have dreamed of in the coal mining valleys of Wales.
鈥淢y own grandparents, I never knew them. Both sets died between the ages of 30 and 50,鈥 Thomas told The Associated Press. 鈥淚n comparison, my own mother lived into her 96th year, and she would often say, 鈥楲ook what the NHS has done for me. I鈥檝e lived to this age, I鈥檝e seen my seven children grow up, my 21 grandchildren and 65 great- and great-great grandchildren.鈥
鈥淚t should be preserved, protected and cherished at all costs. It touches all our lives at some point.鈥
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An earlier version of this story misspelled the last name of NHS founder Aneurin Bevan.
