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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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National Health Service
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(NHS) The most cherished part of Britain's *welfare state. Inspired by the *Beveridge Report, and introduced by Aneurin *Bevan in the National Health Service Act of 1946, it came into effect in 1948 – providing free medical, dental and hospital services for everyone. Originally even pharmaceutical products were entirely free if prescribed by a doctor, but a standard charge per prescription was introduced in the 1960s – with exemptions for children, the old and certain other categories.
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Subsequently a rising scale of charges was made for dental treatment (in the richer areas of the southeast it has become increasingly hard to find NHS dentistry, as more and more dentists have decided to take only private patients), and in the late 1980s charges were introduced for the testing of eyesight. But the central core of the NHS – the services of the *GP and treatment in hospital – remains free to the patient and politically sacred.
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