On 5 July 2018 the National Health Service (NHS) celebrated its 70th anniversary. Before the NHS was established in 1948, health care for those unable to afford private treatment was provided either through charitable institutions such as hospitals and dispensaries or under the Poor Law or by local authorities.

By the early twentieth century many people felt that access to health care should be a right for everyone. In the Second World War (1939-1945) an emergency medical service was created as part of the war effort and a report by Sir William Beveridge envisioned better health services post-war. In 1945 a Labour government was elected and implemented plans to create a nationwide health service, run by central government and funded by taxation. The National Health Service Act of 1946 created the NHS in 1948. Its three basic principles were that the service should meet the needs of everyone, treatment was free at the point of delivery and it was based on people's clinical needs and not their ability to pay.

In the seventy years since then the NHS has grown in both size and complexity. Many advanced treatments available today were only pipe dreams at its beginning. The NHS is still at the heart of the nation and was celebrated in the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games. Although constantly at the centre of political debate about funding and services the NHS remains one of the most far-reaching achievements in our history.

This selection of images shows some of the NHS hospitals in the London region and staff at work.