IT IS something that touches almost every corner of our lives; something so fundamentally a part of British life that many people cannot remember a time without it.

Sixty years ago today, the National Health Service was created in a move by the Government that would revolutionise the population’s healthcare.

Before 1948, those in need of treatment were generally required to pay for their health care. And while free treatment was sometimes available from teaching hospitals and charity hospitals – and some local authorities operated local hospitals for local ratepayers (under a system originating with the Poor Law) – provision was patchy and the quality of care varied greatly.

Today, the NHS is no longer viewed as the envy of the world; it is a service that suffers from under-funding, is sometimes stretched beyond breaking point, and is overburdened by bureaucracy and red tape. From drugs postcode lotteries to cash-before-care headlines, our health service has made news for all the wrong reasons.

Today, hundreds of NHS staff and union members march through Liverpool to protest against Government health policy and what they see as the slow privatisation of the service.

It is a sad step for these committed professionals to have to take; making their protests on the streets because they feel they are no longer listened to by their bosses.

Protesters want all clinical NHS services to be provided by the public sector, and accuse the Government of effectively privatising such as dermatology through the back door.

The NHS can be something we are all too quick to dismiss as failing. Yet this is a service that provides hope to childless couples, ushers us into the world and offers us care in our last days. It is a far from perfect system, but it is good to sometimes reflect on what we do have, and how much we owe those who work so hard to ensure it achieves its 60-year-old aims.