National Health Service

The National Health Service (NHS) is the collective term for the four separate publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern Ireland) which was created separately and is often referred to locally as "the NHS". The original systems were established in 1948 (NHS Wales/GIG Cymru was founded in 1969) as part of major social reforms following the Second World War, and officially launched at Park Hospital in Davyhulme, near Manchester, England (now known as Trafford General Hospital). The founding principles were that services should be comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery. Each system provides a comprehensive range of health services, provided without charge for residents of the United Kingdom apart from dental treatment and optical care, though NHS patients in England who are not exempt have to pay prescription charges.

Taken together, the four systems in 2015–16 employed around 1.6 million people with a combined budget of £136.7 billion. In 2024, the total health sector workforce across the United Kingdom was 1,499,368.

When purchasing consumables such as medications, the four healthcare systems have significant market power that influences the global price, typically keeping prices lower. A small number of products are procured jointly through contracts shared between systems. Several other countries directly rely on Britain's assessments for their own decisions on state-financed drug reimbursements.