<Tr> <Td> 1946 onwards </Td> <Td> Following the Second World War, major social reforms aim at a universal healthcare system as main purpose . A respective National Health Service (NHS) is established for England (NHS England), Scotland (NHS Scotland), and Wales (NHS Wales) as independent institutions . Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland is also established . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Present time </Td> <Td> Today, the healthcare system in the United Kingdom is still fragmented, with England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each having their own systems of publicly funded healthcare, funded by and accountable to separate governments and parliaments, together with smaller private sector and voluntary provision . In a 2014 report ranking developed - country healthcare systems, the overall healthcare system of the United Kingdom was ranked the best in the world in the following categories: Quality of Care (i.e. effective, safe, coordinated, patient - oriented), Access to Care, Efficiency, and Equity . </Td> </Tr> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Year / period </Th> <Th> Type of event </Th> <Th> Event </Th> <Th> Location </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1106 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> St Thomas' Hospital is established . Originally a monastery hospital . </Td> <Td> England (London) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1123 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> St Bartholomew's Hospital is founded by the monk Rahere in order to give free medical care to the poor . </Td> <Td> England (London) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1550 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> St Thomas's Hospital Medical School is founded . </Td> <Td> London </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1721 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Guy's Hospital is founded . </Td> <Td> England (London) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1737 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Aberdeen Royal Infirmary is founded . </Td> <Td> Scotland (Foresterhill) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1740 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> The Royal London Hospital is founded . It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust . </Td> <Td> England (London) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1766 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Addenbrooke's Hospital is founded as a teaching hospital . </Td> <Td> England (Cambridge) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1794 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Glasgow Royal Infirmary is founded . </Td> <Td> Scotland (Glasgow) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1803 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Bedford Hospital is founded . </Td> <Td> England (Bedford) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1804 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Moorfields Eye Hospital is founded . It is the first center in the world for ophthalmic treatment . </Td> <Td> England (London) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1815 </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> Apothecaries Act 1815 is passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom . The Act introduces compulsory apprenticeship and formal qualifications for apothecaries, in modern terms general practitioners, under the license of the Society of Apothecaries . It is the beginning of regulation of the medical profession in Great Britain . The Act requires instruction in anatomy, botany, chemistry, materia medica and "physic", in addition to six months of practical hospital experience . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1832 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> The British Medical Association is established . It is the professional association and registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom . </Td> <Td> England (London) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1840 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> King's College Hospital is founded . </Td> <Td> England (London) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1851 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is founded . It is the first hospital in the world dedicated to the study and treatment of cancer . </Td> <Td> England (London) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1858 </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> Medical Act 1858 is enacted to regulate the qualifications of practitioners in medicine and surgery . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1859 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> The National Hospital for the Paralyzed and Epileptic (today National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery) is founded . It is the first hospital in the world specializing in outpatient epilepsy care . </Td> <Td> England (London) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1862 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Birmingham Children's Hospital is founded . </Td> <Td> England (Birmingham) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1866 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Stratheden Hospital is founded . </Td> <Td> Scotland (Cupar) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1870 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> The British Red Cross is founded . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1888 </Td> <Td> Achievement </Td> <Td> Murdoch Cameron performs the first Caesarean section at the Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital using modern antiseptic conditions </Td> <Td> Scotland (Glasgow) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1904 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Adamson Hospital is founded . </Td> <Td> Scotland (Cupar) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1909 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> The Institute of Cancer Research is founded as a public research institute and university . In 2003 the ICR joined the University of London . A number of breakthrough discoveries have taken place in the ICR, including that the basic cause of cancer is damage to DNA . </Td> <Td> England (London) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1911 </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> The National Insurance Act 1911 is assented, with the longer title An Act to provide for Insurance against Loss of Health and for the Prevention and Cure of Sickness and for Insurance against Unemployment, and for purposes incidental thereto . It provides for the compulsory insurance of lower paid workers and set a fixed capitation fee for doctors . </Td> <Td> England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1913 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> The Highlands and Islands Medical Service (HIMS) is established . It is directly funded by the state and administered centrally by the Scottish Office in Edinburgh working with local committees . Though treatment is not free, fees are set at minimal levels and people can still get treated even if they are unable to pay . </Td> <Td> Scotland </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1914 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Alder Hey Children's Hospital is founded . Today it is a major national children's hospital and NHS foundation trust . </Td> <Td> England (Liverpool) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1925 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Aldeburgh Cottage Nursing Association is founded . Now renamed Aldeburgh Cottage Hospital . </Td> <Td> England (Aldeburgh) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1926 </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> New Bill reduces the government's contribution to the health scheme, in an attempt to force insurance companies to increase funding . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1940 </Td> <Td> Development </Td> <Td> First use of the wonder drug Penicillin on a large scale takes place at RAF Hospital Halton . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1942 </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> A National Health Service is first proposed to the Parliament . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1946--1948 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> A respective National Health Service (NHS) is founded across the countries of the United Kingdom: NHS England, NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and the Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland . For the first time, hospitals, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, opticians and dentists are brought together under one organization to provide services that are free for all at the point of delivery . Today, the NHS is responsible for the public healthcare sector of the United Kingdom . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1947 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Bupa is founded . Today an international healthcare group, it is the single largest British health insurance company in United Kingdom . </Td> <Td> England (London) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1948 </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> Park Hospital (now Trafford General Hospital) becomes the first hospital in the world to offer free healthcare to all . </Td> <Td> England (Trafford) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1949 </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> The Nurses Act establishes a modern framework for the role of nursing within the National Health Insurance . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1950--1955 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> The National Health Service Central Register (NHSCR) is created to facilitate the transfer of patients between Health Board areas or across borders within the countries of the United Kingdom . </Td> <Td> Scotland </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1952 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> The Royal College of General Practitioners is established . It is the professional body for general (medical) practitioners (GPs / Family Physicians / Primary Care Physicians) in the United Kingdom . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1954 </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> Daily hospital visits for children is introduced, after having been demonstrated that separation from their parents is traumatic . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1956 </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> The Parliament enacts the Clean Air Act in response to worsening air pollution in urban areas of the UK . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1958 </Td> <Td> Campaign </Td> <Td> The National Health Insurance introduces polio and diphtheria vaccines in its plan to promote good health instead of merely treating illness . This program ensures everyone under the age of 15 is vaccinated and will lead to an immediate and dramatic reduction in cases of both diseases . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1959 </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> The Mental Health Act is passed . It replaces much of the existing legislation on the provision of mental health services in England, bringing the provision of mental health services within the general administrative machinery of the National Health Service for the first time . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1960 </Td> <Td> Achievement </Td> <Td> The first kidney transplant in the United Kingdom takes place at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, involving an identical set of 49 - year - old twins . The procedure becomes successful, with both donor and recipient living for a further six years before dying of an unrelated illness . </Td> <Td> Scotland (Edinburgh) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1961 </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> The contraceptive pill is made available . It is considered to have played a major role in women's liberation and having contributed to the sexual freedom of the so - called Swinging Sixties . Initially, it is only available to married women, but the law is relaxed in 1967 . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1961 </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> The Human Tissue Act is passed . It issues guidance on the use of the bodies of deceased persons for medical or educational research, stating that professionals must have no reason to believe that any surviving relatives object . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1962 </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Minister of Health Enoch Powell's Hospital Plan recommends the development of district general hospitals covering populations of around 125,000 . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1967 </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> The Abortion Act is passed . It legalizes abortions up to 28 weeks' gestation for all women, not only when the life of the mother is in danger as was previously the law . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1968 </Td> <Td> Development </Td> <Td> South Africa - born surgeon Donald Ross, leading a team of 18 doctors and nurses, performs the first heart transplant in the United Kingdom . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1968 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> The Ministry of Health merges with the Ministry of Social Security to form the Department of Health and Social Security . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1970 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Airedale General Hospital is founded . </Td> <Td> England (Steeton with Eastburn) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1972 </Td> <Td> Development </Td> <Td> The first commercially viable CT scanner is developed by Sir Godfrey Hounsfield, at EMI Central Research Laboratories using X-rays . CT scans revolutionize the way doctors examine the body . </Td> <Td> England (Hayes, Hillingdon) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1973 </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> The National Health Service Reorganisation Act is enacted, allowing for structural changes . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital is founded . </Td> <Td> England (Basingstoke) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1976 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> York Hospital is founded . </Td> <Td> England (York) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1978 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> International Hospitals Group is founded as a healthcare services company . </Td> <Td> England (Buckinghamshire) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1978 </Td> <Td> Development </Td> <Td> British gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe, at Oldham General Hospital, and physiologist Robert Edwards, at Cambridge University, develop a new technique to fertilize an egg outside a woman's body before replacing it in the womb . This technique leads to the world's first baby born as a result of in vitro fertilisation (IVF). </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1979 </Td> <Td> Development </Td> <Td> British professor Roland Levinsky performs the first successful bone marrow transplant in the country on a child with primary immunodeficiency, at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1982 </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> The National Health Service abolishes area health authorities (AHAs) with aims at simplifying the structure of the healthcare system . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1982 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Care UK is founded . It provides health and social care . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> Medical Act 1983 is enacted in order to consolidate the Medical Acts 1956 to 1978 and certain related provisions, with amendments to give effect to recommendations of the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> The Mental Health Act allows individuals deemed to be mentally ill and a risk to themselves or others, to be detained in hospital and given treatment . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1986 </Td> <Td> Campaign </Td> <Td> The first AIDS health campaign is organized in the United Kingdom . This campaign is in line with the original National Health Service intention to improve health and prevent disease, as well as offer treatment . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Development </Td> <Td> British professor Sir Roy Yorke Calne and Professor John Wallwork perform the world's first liver, heart and lung transplant at Papworth Hospital . </Td> <Td> England (Cambridge) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Technology launch </Td> <Td> Routine newborn hearing screening with otoacoustic emission (OAE) is first introduced at Whipps Cross University Hospital . </Td> <Td> England (London) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Alliance Medical is founded as an independent radiology services company . Alliance MEdical is a private provider of NHS services . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1990 </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act replaces the Abortion Act . The new act states that abortion is no longer legal after 24 weeks except if: the mother's life is in danger; there is extreme foetal abnormality; or there is a grave risk of physical or mental injury to the mother . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1990 </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 is enacted with the purpose of creating an internal market and a purchaser - provider split in which the purchasers (mainly health authorities) are handed budgets to purchase services from providers (mainly acute hospitals and those providing care for people with mental health problems, people with learning disabilities as well as older people). </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1991 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Hayward Medical Communications is founded as a full service medical communications agency . </Td> <Td> England (London) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1991 </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> The Patient's Charter is launched as a document by the government of the United Kingdom . The charter sets out patients' rights for the first time and the standards which will be set nationally and locally by the health service, including the first waiting time guarantees . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Healthcare at Home is founded as a pharmaceutical supplier . </Td> <Td> England (Burton on Trent) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> General Healthcare Group is founded . It owns BMI Healthcare which runs around 70 hospitals nationwide . </Td> <Td> England (London) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1995 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Premier Medical Group is founded as a healthcare company . It provides expert opinions for the legal and insurance industries . </Td> <Td> England (London) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1995 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry is formed by a merger of St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College and the London Hospital Medical College with Queen Mary and Westfield College . </Td> <Td> England (London) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1998 </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> The Department of Health develops a set of National Service Frameworks with the purpose of improving particular areas of care, such as coronary, cancer, mental health, diabetes, etc . The NSF is aimed at setting national standards and identifying changes that need to be made for certain defined services or care groups . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1998 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> NHS Direct is established as a national health line in order to provide expert health advice and information . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1999 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> The Scottish Executive Health Department (SEHD) is created from the former Scottish Office Health Department (SOHD). </Td> <Td> Scotland </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1999 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is established as the body responsible for developing national guidelines and standards related to health promotion and prevention, assessment of new and existing technology (including medicines and procedures) and treatment and care clinical guidance, available across the National Health Service . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2000 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> The first Ayurvedic hospital outside India is founded . </Td> <Td> London, United Kingdom </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2000 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust is established with the merger of the Leicester General Hospital, Glenfield Hospital and Leicester Royal Infirmary . </Td> <Td> England (Leicester) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Bristol Royal Hospital for Children is founded . </Td> <Td> England (Bristol) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2002 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> ID Medical Group Ltd is founded as a healthcare recruitment company . </Td> <Td> England (Milton Keynes) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Policy </Td> <Td> The United Kingdom introduces a Quality and Outcome Framework, in order to measure the quality of care delivered by General Practitioners . This framework provides incentives for improving quality: practices are awarded points related for how well the practice is organized, how patients view their surgical experiences, whether extra services (such as children's health and maternity) are offered, and how well common chronic diseases such as asthma and diabetes are managed . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2006 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is created as a NHS board . </Td> <Td> Scotland </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2006 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> St Andrews Community Hospital is founded . </Td> <Td> Scotland (St Andrews) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2007 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Spire Healthcare is founded as a private healthcare provider . </Td> <Td> England (London) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2013 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Genomics England is established in order to run the 100,000 Genomes Project, with the purpose of sequencing 100,000 genomes from NHS patients with a rare disease and their families, and patients with cancer . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2015 </Td> <Td> Organization </Td> <Td> Queen Elizabeth University Hospital is founded . It is one of the largest acute hospitals in the UK . </Td> <Td> Scotland (Glasgow) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th> Year / period </Th> <Th> Type of event </Th> <Th> Event </Th> <Th> Location </Th> </Tr>

When was free health care introduced in the uk