The NHS stands for The National Health Service. It was established in 1948 to provide a healthcare to all UK citizens on a national basis. The NHS was designed to cater for everyone based on the need for a good health service rather than on the ability of individuals to pay.
The service is funded by the taxpayer and every one in the country supports the service through paying tax. The NHS provides a service in all areas of health care, from primary care, hospitalisation, community care and advise bureaus to teaching and research. There are approximately 1 million people working for the NHS, which makes it the largest employer in the UK.
There are currently many changes being made to the NHS in order to maintain a high standard of care. One recent change was the setting up "NHS direct". This is a nurse run telephone advice centre for the public. It was designed to help relieve some of the work load of A&E (ER) departments and GP's (family doctors).
