To commemorate the NHS' 60th anniversary in 2008, two photographers were given unique access to NHS services.
On July 5 1948 Aneurin Bevan opened Park Hospital in Manchester. This small act was a huge moment in the history of healthcare: the NHS was born.
To commemorate this milestone, and to celebrate the progress made over the next six decades, NHS Choices commissioned two photographers to capture the National Health Service in 2008.
Vicki Couchman and Julian Andrews are both press photographers, working regularly for major UK and international newspapers. For two months, they had unique access to the full range of NHS services across the country; from operating theatres and maternity units in major cities to care of the elderly at home and the ambulance service in rural Cornwall.
They captured the breadth of care that is delivered by the health service and a sense of how it is there for all of us whenever we may need it.
The result is a collection of 60 photographs that not only gives us a glimpse of the NHS at work, but a reminder of the role the NHS plays in all our lives. Perhaps more than anything, it reflects the extraordinary delicacy, rigour and dedication in the way the health service is delivered.
- The NHS 60 content, including this article, was written in 2008 to mark the 60th anniversary of the NHS.
