Our NHS: A Hidden History

Editorial

The BBC South region started on 5th January 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South.

BBC One South

BBC Two

BBC One Channel Islands

BBC One Yorkshire

BBC Northern Ireland region started on 19th April 1955 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One Northern Ireland.

BBC One Northern Ireland

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region that included London and part of the South region. Separated from BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One South East

BBC One Wales

Wales

BBC One Oxfordshire

BBC One London

London

BBC One North West

The BBC South West region started on 20th April 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South West.

BBC One South West

BBC One Cambridgeshire

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East

Simulcast of BBC One Wales in high definition. From 29/01/2013

BBC One Wales HD

The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

BBC One West

Simulcast of BBC One Northern Ireland in high definition. From 24/10/2012

BBC One Northern Ireland HD

The BBC North East & Cumbria region started in 1959 (tbc) as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One North East & Cumbria.

BBC One North East & Cumbria

BBC One West Midlands

Simulcast of network BBC One in high definition. From 03/11/2010

BBC One HD

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

Simulcast of BBC One Scotland in high definition. From 14/01/2013

BBC One Scotland HD

BBC Two England

England

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

David Olusoga

Tim Kirby

Mike Smith

Charlotte Sacher

Uplands Television

Documentaries

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

BBC One - Our NHS: A Hidden History

David Olusoga meets the overseas health workers who have transformed the NHS.

David Olusoga meets nurses, doctors and health workers from overseas who have transformed the NHS in spite of hostility and discrimination.

As we emerge from a global pandemic that has turned our world upside down, David Olusoga explores the hidden history of the nurses, doctors and health workers who, for more than 70 years, have been coming to Britain from overseas to serve in the NHS. Without them the NHS would have been in danger of collapse - not least during the current COVID crisis - but from the very start the story of this beloved British institution has been intertwined with one of the most divisive social and political issue of the age, immigration. The people who came to this country to work in the NHS have found themselves fighting battles they neither sought nor expected.

Today, more than 13 per cent of the 1.2 million people who work for the NHS are from overseas, representing 200 different nationalities, and in England and Wales more than 40 per cent can claim minority ethnic heritage, making the NHS the most diverse of all British institutions. The programme gives voice to the moving and often raw experiences of nurses from the Irish Republic, the Caribbean and the Philippines, GPs and surgeons from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and paramedics from Central Europe, as well as to the British-born children and grandchildren of immigrants who have found themselves helping and healing with one hand while fending off the sharp end of discrimination and racism with the other. Ultimately, their stories say as much about perseverance, dedication and the overcoming of obstacles as they do about discrimination and prejudice.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Our NHS: A Hidden History

Contributors

Genres

Formats

BBC One South

About BBC One