This Act in 1946 is considered the foundation of the Welfare State. This aimed at creating a health service that was free of charge and accessible to everyone. The main features of the act were:

Every British citizen could have free medical treatment - hospitals, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, opticians and dentists were all brought under one umbrella organisation
Nationalisation of all hospitals, under the control of the states Ministry for Health
Consultants in hospitals received salaries and all treatments to patients was to be free
A national system of general practitioners was to be set up and they, along with dentists and opticians, were to obtain fees according to the numbers of patients on their registers. All treatment was to be free to the patient
Health centres were to be established - local authorities were paid to provide vaccinations, maternity care, district nurses and ambulances
Provide support from the 'cradle to the grave' - financed through National Insurance contributions

These changes took two years to complete after 1946. This is mainly due to Health Minister, Aneurin Bevan, receiving opposition from the British Medical Association (BMA) and Conservative MPs regarding these proposals.

BMA opposed these changes - a survey in January 1948 demonstrated 90% of its members would refuse to cooperate with the NHS
Local authorities and voluntary bodies opposed the nationalisation of hospitals
Arguments occurred over the costs of this project

By the start of 1948, the opposition had largely waned and the NHS was officially launched in July 1948 with 90% of doctors enrolling in the new scheme,

Developments in Patient Care - 20th Century