<Li> 211 clinical commissioning groups </Li> <P> The National Health Service (NHS) is the publicly funded national healthcare system for England and one of the four National Health Services for each constituent country of the United Kingdom . It is the largest single - payer healthcare system in the world . Primarily funded through the general taxation system and overseen by the Department of Health, NHS England provides healthcare to all legal English residents, with most services free at the point of use . Some services, such as emergency treatment and treatment of infectious diseases are free for everyone, including visitors . </P> <P> Free healthcare at the point of use comes from the core principles at the founding of the National Health Service by the Labour government in 1948 . In practice, "free at the point of use" normally means that anyone legitimately fully registered with the system (i.e. in possession of an NHS number), available to legal UK residents regardless of nationality (but not non-resident British citizens), can access the full breadth of critical and non-critical medical care, without payment except for some specific NHS services, for example eye tests, dental care, prescriptions and aspects of long - term care . These charges are usually lower than equivalent services provided by a private provider, and many are free to vulnerable or low - income patients . </P> <P> The NHS provides the majority of healthcare in England, including primary care, in - patient care, long - term healthcare, ophthalmology and dentistry . The National Health Service Act 1946 came into effect on 5 July 1948 . Private health care has continued parallel to the NHS, paid for largely by private insurance: it is used by about 8% of the population, generally as an add - on to NHS services . </P>

When did national health care start in england