Westminster Abbey celebrates 70th anniversary of the NHS
Thursday, 5th July 2018
Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex attended a Service to Celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the National Health Service at Westminster Abbey at Noon on Thursday 5th July 2018.
The service was conducted by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, who said in his Bidding:
In a public address about the National Health Service, which he more than anyone had brought into being, Aneurin Bevan said in 1959 not long before he died, 'I'm proud about the NHS. It's a piece of real socialism; it’s a piece of real Christianity too.'
How we describe the NHS matters less than how we value the NHS for the healthcare and practical support it offers to all: care free on the point of delivery on the basis of need. And the value we recognise in the NHS understands the immense pressure on a vast organisation with ever expanding opportunities for innovative care and healing and ever changing patterns of need and priorities for care.
So, we gather now in this holy place to celebrate and give thanks for 70 years of the National Health Service and to pray for all those involved in the planning and delivery of this remarkable, this unique, service to the people of our land.
The Address was given by Simon Stevens, Chief Executive, NHS England.