National Health Service National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the name used for each of the public health services in the United Kingdom – the NHS in England, NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and the affiliated Health and Social Care (HSC) in Northern Ireland – as well as a term to describe them collectively. They were established together in 1948 as one of the major social reforms following the Second World War. The founding principles were that services should be comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery. Each service provides a comprehensive range of health services, free at the
National Health Service Lottery scheme was approved by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in April 1988, and it was estimated that a single draw could have raised up to £500,000 for the NHS. Although the National Health Lottery scheme was based upon earlier localised lotteries designed to generate funds for health services, by becoming national in scope, the scheme contravened the Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976. The scheme was referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions by the Gaming Board of Great Britain on 16 May 1988, halting the lottery before the first winner could be announced. The Attorney-General, Sir Patrick Mayhew reported in the