Henry Willink and the creation of the NHS
In this 70th year since the foundation of the NHS it is time to give an appropriate share of the credit to one of the founders of the NHS who hardly anyone today has heard of.
Anyone with an interest in politics or history knows of the huge role which Nye Bevan played in the creation of the NHS and no reasonable person would dispute that as the minister who actually carried the legislation through parliament he deserves a great share of the credit for the creation of the NHS.
However, there were other people who also did a great deal of the spadework and one person who deserves more credit than he usually receives is Henry Willink (later Sir Henry,) Conservative MP for Croydon North who was minister of health in Churchill's wartime coalition from 1943 to 1945.
Conservative, Labour and Liberal members of Churchill's wartime government agreed on the need, identified in the Beveridge Report in 1942, to provide health care for everyone free at the point of use, to replace the previous insurance system, which covered fewer than half of the working population.
As Churchill himself put it in March 1944, speaking as Prime Minister:
“The discoveries of healing science must be the inheritance of all: that is clear. Disease must be attacked whether it occurs in the poorest or the richest man or woman, simply on the ground that it is the enemy: and it must be attacked in the same way that the fire brigade will give its full assistance to the humble cottage as readily as it will give it to the most important mansion…
“Our policy is to create a national health service, in order to ensure that everybody in the country, irrespective of means, age, sex or occupation, shall have equal opportunities to benefit from the best and most up-to-date medical and allied services available.”
Willink as Health minister was given the job of drawing up plans for the new national health service and in 1944 launched a White Paper on the subject, which he spoke about in a July 1944 broadcast which you can view below:.
This was taken forward by the Labour government after the 1945 election and implemented: nobody should seek to deny their role in this but as even Bevan's biographer John Campbell wrote,
"There can be no doubt that some form of National Health Service would have come into being after 1945 whoever had won the General Election.”
Liberal William Beveridge identified the need for Universal Healthcare in 1942, Conservative Henry Willink started the process of developing the policies to make this a reality, and Labour's Nye Bevan completed this process and implemented it. The foundation of the NHS is actually a story of partnership.
You can read more about the role of Henry Willink in the creation of the NHS on Conservative Home here and on the Pathe website here.
Anyone with an interest in politics or history knows of the huge role which Nye Bevan played in the creation of the NHS and no reasonable person would dispute that as the minister who actually carried the legislation through parliament he deserves a great share of the credit for the creation of the NHS.
However, there were other people who also did a great deal of the spadework and one person who deserves more credit than he usually receives is Henry Willink (later Sir Henry,) Conservative MP for Croydon North who was minister of health in Churchill's wartime coalition from 1943 to 1945.
Conservative, Labour and Liberal members of Churchill's wartime government agreed on the need, identified in the Beveridge Report in 1942, to provide health care for everyone free at the point of use, to replace the previous insurance system, which covered fewer than half of the working population.
As Churchill himself put it in March 1944, speaking as Prime Minister:
“The discoveries of healing science must be the inheritance of all: that is clear. Disease must be attacked whether it occurs in the poorest or the richest man or woman, simply on the ground that it is the enemy: and it must be attacked in the same way that the fire brigade will give its full assistance to the humble cottage as readily as it will give it to the most important mansion…
“Our policy is to create a national health service, in order to ensure that everybody in the country, irrespective of means, age, sex or occupation, shall have equal opportunities to benefit from the best and most up-to-date medical and allied services available.”
Willink as Health minister was given the job of drawing up plans for the new national health service and in 1944 launched a White Paper on the subject, which he spoke about in a July 1944 broadcast which you can view below:.
This was taken forward by the Labour government after the 1945 election and implemented: nobody should seek to deny their role in this but as even Bevan's biographer John Campbell wrote,
"There can be no doubt that some form of National Health Service would have come into being after 1945 whoever had won the General Election.”
Liberal William Beveridge identified the need for Universal Healthcare in 1942, Conservative Henry Willink started the process of developing the policies to make this a reality, and Labour's Nye Bevan completed this process and implemented it. The foundation of the NHS is actually a story of partnership.
You can read more about the role of Henry Willink in the creation of the NHS on Conservative Home here and on the Pathe website here.
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