A MAJOR celebration of the 60th anniversary of the NHS will highlight the developments which have dramatically improved the lives of Scots, it was announced yesterday.
Speaking 60 days before the landmark date of 5 July, Nicola Sturgeon, the health secretary, outlined a series of activities to mark the occasion.
These will include a "This is Your Life"-style event in Glasgow to recognise the contribution of st
aff and patients to the development of the NHS.
Ms Sturgeon will also address a special Sunday service at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh to give thanks to the health service.
Smaller events will take place across Scotland during the coming months.
The health secretary launched the anniversary celebrations in Glasgow's George Square yesterday, posing in front of a vintage ambulance and meeting NHS staff from the 1940s.
She said she was looking forward to hearing more stories from staff and patients about how the NHS has changed over the years.
She added: "Most of us have only ever known a Scotland that has an NHS – a high-quality publicly owned service free to everyone at the point of delivery.
"But some Scots will remember the days when seeing a doctor was a hard choice, often between essential treatment and food for the family.
"That kind of choice is scarcely imaginable today, which is why we must never take our health service for granted."
Ms Sturgeon said the NHS provided services and complex treatments not even conceivable 60 years ago, such as artificial hips, life-saving drugs, kidney and heart transplants.
"This is also a time to celebrate the distinctive Scottish character of the NHS, with traditions of internationally renowned medical education and pioneering steps forward in healthcare," she said.
"For the future, I want to see the Scottish people and NHS staff become real partners – co-owners of the health service so they can shape a truly responsive NHS which meets Scotland's needs for the next 60 years."
The NHS was launched in 1948 after a long campaign by Nye Bevan, the then Labour health minister, to create a health service free to everyone and not based on the ability to pay.
His efforts were opposed by many doctors, who feared politicians interfering in their work.
But Mr Bevan persuaded the medical profession, mostly by allowing them to continue to treat private patients as well as being paid for working in the NHS.
He later said he had "stuffed their mouths with gold".
Today, doctors are among the biggest supporters of the NHS. In July the British Medical Association's annual conference, which is being held in Edinburgh, will celebrate the successes of the health service.
Yesterday, a BMA Scotland spokeswoman said: "The NHS has transformed lives.
"It provides care to all, from the cradle to the grave, and thanks to advances in medical science we are able to help people live longer and healthier lives."
One such patient whose life has been saved thanks to the NHS is Joan Whyteside, one of Scotland's longest living transplant patients.
Yesterday, she joined Ms Sturgeon and others in Glasgow to launch the events.
Ms Whyteside, 54, received a kidney transplant in 1972 after spending a year on dialysis.
Her sister, Margaret, died in 1958 aged just ten after suffering kidney problems. At that time, little could be done to help people with such conditions.
However, by the time Ms Whyteside needed treatment, kidney dialysis and transplants were possible.
Ms Whyteside's 86-year-old mother, Betty, praised the NHS for helping her daughter.
She said: "The NHS has made a huge difference to our lives. We would never have managed if we had to pay for this ourselves.
"The NHS has been a great thing and we are very grateful for it."
The full article contains 639 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
