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57 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FM
Available for over a year
In a series tracing decisive moments in the life of the NHS, medical historian Sally Sheard explores the archive to tell five crucial stories in this second omnibus edition. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
How the nation battled to stay alive before the NHS. Treatments were basic and surgery was often performed on the kitchen table. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FM
Available for over a year
Enterprising individuals came up with schemes to address health problems in their communities. One in particular inspired health minister Aneurin Bevan's vision for the NHS. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
Britain's emergency medical provision during the Second World War gave the public a taste of what a national health system might look like. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FM
Available for over a year
Before the health minister Aneurin Bevan could launch his new health service, he would need to convince the doctors, the people required to run it and also his harshest critics. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
When a new deadly disease, lung cancer, began to grip the nation, the NHS was forced to consider its role - should it just treat the illnesses of its patients, or prevent them too? Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
The life in the new NHS gave some hospital doctors the time and freedom to innovate, like John Charnley, who invented the 'Charnley' hip replacement. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
How the life-saving invention of the 'artificial kidney' machine in the 1960s came at a cost, bringing moral dilemmas in its wake, for doctors and for society as a whole. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
How the new 'modern' hospital designs transformed not only the lives of staff, who worked and often lived in hospitals, but the experiences of patients too. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
How the contraceptive pill forced the NHS, for the first time, to acknowledge all women's healthcare needs, sexual health included. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
How unsung heroine Barbara Robb triggered a nationwide investigation into the care of the mentally ill, forgotten in the vast long-stay institutions. Show more
How Cecily Saunders and her 'modern hospice' movement forced the NHS to care for the dying and plan for what's called a 'good death'. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
In 1978, Louise Brown became the first IVF baby. This success lead to ethical dilemmas: how to limit multiple births, like the Walton sextuplets. And should IVF be free on the NHS? Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
How the Black Report in 1980 and others exposed inequalities in health in deprived areas. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
40 years after the start of the NHS, resources were not keeping up with demand from patients. A baby died after his heart operation had been cancelled five times for lack of nurses. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FM
Available for over a year
Bevan knew that the NHS would never have enough money to meet the overwhelming need. How have health ministers attempted to deal with its problems over the last 70 years? Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
The highs and lows that followed the launch of the National Health Service on 5 July 1948, one which would challenge the philosophy upon which it had been created. Show more
58 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
In a series tracing decisive moments in the life of the NHS, medical historian Sally Sheard explores the archive to tell five crucial stories in this final omnibus edition. Show more
Welcome to this new BBC podcast. The first episode will be available within seven days.
57 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FM
Available for over a year
In a series tracing decisive moments in the life of our NHS, medical historian Sally Sheard explores the archive to tell five crucial stories in this first omnibus edition. Show more
