David Peat on 60 years with the NHS

David Peat

• Increase image
• View all images

Call it a fortuitous coincidence if you will, but the NHS and I share the same birthday. Not to the day, but near enough.  

Sixty years ago, back in 1948, we were born in neighbouring hospitals. The NHS down at Trafford, near Manchester, and I in Rossendale General, less than 20 miles up the road in Lancashire.

The NHS had its share of problems in getting going, with a shortage of nurses and midwives, not enough dentists and a fear that GPs would be swamped by people with "trivial ailments".

When I was due to be born, my mother and father had their own problems. It was snowing quite heavily and they lived in a remote hamlet between Blackburn and Haslingden in a water board house.

As ordinary working folk, they had neither car nor telephone and they certainly had no expectation of an ambulance being sent. That was for real emergencies.

So my dad fought his way to the local pub, well over a mile away, and took the bold step of ringing for a taxi. My mother made it to the hospital in time to give birth to David Alan Peat, but it was two days before my father could battle his way over to the snow-bound hospital to see me.

Evolving service

The birth of the NHS was no less dramatic and eventful. Like my dad, the NHS eventually found a way through, but it wasn't easy, even though the people of Britain valued the brave experiment in state-funded medical provision "from cradle to grave".

How our expectations have changed since those early days. And what an exponential growth in the range and scope of health provision we have witnessed over the past 60 years.

Not that such changes have been without criticism and differences of opinion. Even political party attitudes have transformed and morphed into completely different philosophies from the ones that shaped the NHS just after the war.

It's my job to work within whatever parameters are set by government, without publicly passing comment or opinion. However, that doesn't stop me from observing the quantum leaps that have been made in provision, particularly in my own backyard, where community provision has changed beyond belief.

Hi-tech facilities

When I was a youngster, our nearest GP surgery was in the cellar of a big house in the nearby town.  The lead partner had his own particular medicines, elixirs and concoctions that were available from the local chemist.

He was a character and drove a vintage Bentley. No doubt the wags among you will say that some things never change. In reality, we all know that much has changed - and so much for the better.

In my patch, decrepit premises are, in the main, a thing of the past. We take pride in having obtained 15 years' funding in a five-year period to build state-of-the-art health centres.

By the time we have finished, we will have provided around £100m of new capital stock in 10 locations, with another handful of premises being upgraded. Using the old ways of financing such projects, we would have had to wait 20 years or more for this to even have a chance of happening.

Health leaps

Let us also remember the major strides in mental health provision. No longer do we "put people away" in those gaunt institutions in isolated settings and with prison-style walls around them. Things aren't perfect, but those with learning difficulties are at least in a community-based setting, with public scrutiny and involvement able to play its role.

For me, the youthful memory of travelling by bus to Accrington Victoria Hospital to have my broken arm mended is still strong. So is the memory of having my wisdom teeth out. Despite the pain, love was in the air and the young nurse on the ward eventually became my wife. We've just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary.

It's also a salutary thought that at the age of 60, back in 1948 I might have been approaching the end of my life. Now that concentrates the mind on the issue of welcome change, does it not?

Incidentally, we're about to spend £10m on a new multi-purpose specialist health centre right in the heart of my native Rossendale, just down the road from the old "workhouse" hospital where I was born. The new centre will even have a birthing unit. Well, I've got to keep my mum happy!