YP Letters: Memories wanted from the dawn of the NHS

THE NHS turns 70 this year. Clearly those who remember July 1948 are now well-advanced in years and, before memories fade, the Friends of Harrogate Hospital, together with the celebrated historian Malcolm Neesam, wish to compile a social history of healthcare in our district around that time.

To do so, we need readers’ help by sharing with us their family memories, stories, anecdotes, photographs and the like, through which we hope to bring to life what surely was an historic, unique and life-changing event.

Do you have stories to tell of how your family dealt with being ill? Were there family remedies you used? Who did you go to? How did you manage the money side of illness? We are looking for anecdotes, humorous or otherwise, that paint a picture of times before the NHS and the impact the new National Health Service made on us all.

Please help by sending your memories to [email protected] or by post to NHS Turns 70, Charity Office, Strayside Wing, HDFT, Lancaster Park Road, Harrogate, HX2 7SX.

Please include a contact email address or postal address and phone number. No names will be published without express permission, all documents will be returned.