NHS Celebrates Its 68th Birthday As Britons Remember How The Health Service Has Helped Them

'I would not be here today, enjoying life with my family.'
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As the National Health Service celebrates its 68th birthday, Brits are praising all that it has done for them.

Founded on 5 July 1948, the NHS was designed as part of a broader programme of reconstruction after the Second World War.

Part of a new welfare system, the NHS was introduced by then-health minister Aneurin Bevan to provide care from "cradle to grave" for Britons.

The NHS has been a thing of pride for many Brits ever since, and the service's birthday on Tuesday prompted many to remember the life changing impact it has had on them.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, an A&E doctor and Sadiq Khan's replacement as Labour MP for Tooting, also tweeted her support for the NHS.

She added that she would be "standing up for our NHS in Parliament - something Jeremy Hunt has never done".

A number of medical organisations and facilities also tweeted "happy birthday messages, including the Royal College of Nursing.

As well as providing all manner of healthcare, the NHS is also the fifth biggest employer in the world.

It remains the only UK employer in the list of the top 10 biggest employers globally, surpassed only by the US department of defence, the People's Liberation Army of China, Walmart and McDonald's.