National Health Service (England)

The National Health Service (NHS) is the publicly funded healthcare system in England, and one of the four National Health Service systems in the United Kingdom. It is the second largest single-payer healthcare system in the world after the Brazilian Sistema Único de Saúde. Primarily funded by the government from taxation and National Insurance contributions, and overseen by the Department of Health and Social Care, the NHS provides healthcare to all legal UK residents, with most services free at the point of use for most people.^[4] The NHS also conducts research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).^[5]

A founding principle of the NHS was providing free healthcare at the point of use. The 1942 cross-party Beveridge Report established the principles of the NHS which was implemented by the government, whilst under Labour control in 1948 and the NHS was officially launched at Park Hospital in Davyhulme, near Manchester, England (now known as Trafford General Hospital). Labour's Minister for Health Aneurin Bevan is popularly considered the NHS's founder,^[6][7][8] despite never formally being referred to as such. In practice, "free at the point of use" normally means that anyone legitimately registered with the system (i.e. in possession of an NHS number), that is a UK resident in clinical need of treatment, can access medical care, without payment. The exceptions include NHS services such as eye tests, dental care, prescriptions and aspects of long-term care. These charges are usually lower than equivalent services offered privately and many are free to vulnerable or low-income patients.^[9][10]

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 was enacted on 5 July 1948. Private health care has continued alongside 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.

The NHS is largely funded from general taxation and National Insurance payments,^[11] fees levied by changes in the Immigration Act 2014^[12] and a small amount from patient charges.^[4] The UK government department responsible for the NHS is the Department of Health and Social Care, led by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. The Department of Health and Social Care had a £192 billion budget in 2024–25, most of which was spent on the NHS.