The NHS was founded in the spirit of post-war optimism and rebuilding, over seven decades ago. Ever since then, health care has been free for all UK citizens. How did this happen?

What is the NHS exactly? The National Health Service is the UK's free health care service, which was founded over 70 years ago on 5 July 1948. It is entirely funded by the Government. That is why, if you see a doctor or you need an operation, you do not have to pay any fees.

Since it was founded, by the LabourBritain's main left-of-centre political party. Health Minister Nye Bevan, the UK's health has dramatically improved. Infant mortality is down. Diseases like polioAn infectious disease that affected children all over the world. It left victims paralysed or unable to move their muscles. have all but disappeared. Life expectancyThe number of years that a person can expect to live. has risen.

Basically, it's partly thanks to the NHS that you will, hopefully, celebrate your 70th birthday one day too!

Who's this Nye Bevan character? His full name was actually Aneurin Bevan (he was Welsh), but he was nicknamed Nye.

Let us wind back to 1945. World War Two is over, but food is still being rationed. Labour has just won a landslide general electionIn the UK, when an election is held for all 650 members of the House of Commons. One must take place every five years. , much to everyone's surprise - including the party's leader, Clement Attlee.

Most politicians agree that health care in the UK is a mess. It is erratically provided by charities and volunteer hospitals. People are charged to see a doctor, which means that poor families are often driven into debt just to stay alive.

Enter Nye Bevan. He presents a radical new plan to nationalise all of the UK's hospitals. He suggests that they are funded from the national budget, rather than local services. Eventually, after much negotiation, his plan is accepted.

Then what happened? Three years later, the NHS was born. Health care became free at the point of use, including seeing dentists, pharmacists and opticians. On 5 July, Bevan visited Park Hospital in Manchester (now Trafford General Hospital). He said the UK now had "the moral leadership of the world".

He spoke to the first patient, 13-year-old Sylvia Diggory, who had acute nephritisKidney inflammation.. Later, she remembered him telling her that it was "a milestone in history - the most civilised step any country had ever taken".

Is that true? It is true that it was the first system of its kind in the world. These days, most developed countries have free, universal health care. (The most notable exception is the United States.)

How has it changed since? Unsurprisingly, the NHS has grown bigger. It now employs 115,000 doctors, ten times as many as in 1948. The number of nurses has trebled to 217,000, and their jobs have become more specialised.

In fact, the NHS has grown so much that it is the fifth-largest employer in the world.

Can we afford it? Its budget is 12 times bigger than it was when it was founded, even once you adjust for inflation. And it's set to grow - in June 2018, the Government said it would spend 20 billion extra on the NHS each year, for the next five years, as a 50th "birthday present".

The NHS budget has always been a major political issue. Bevan resigned from government in April 1951, in protest at the introduction of charges for dentures, spectacles and prescriptions. In 1997, Tony Blair won a landslide election for Labour after telling voters they had "24 hours to save the NHS".

How long will it last? It is impossible to know for sure. Health care challenges have also changed over the last 70 years. Most simple diseases can be cured, and complex diseases, like cancer, have far higher survival rates. In other words, people live longer and the NHS spends more time managing incurable conditions, like dementiaA syndrome associated with memory loss and other declining brain functions. . Some are calling for it to be integrated more closely with social care.

However, it is unlikely to disappear any time soon: one poll shows that, despite scandals, 54% of Britons are proud of the NHS. It is more popular than British history, the Army and the royal family. Bevan would be pleased.