The NHS in Lothian

Before the NHS

Prior to the NHS, healthcare in Scotland was provided by a combination of voluntary, municipal, provident, private and government services, both at hospital and community levels.  Scotland had pioneered government-funded, organised health services in the form of the Highlands and Islands Medical Service (HIMS) since 1913, due to that region’s specific medical and social needs, and the Clyde Basin Experiment in Preventative Medicine from 1941, to improve the health of workers under the age of 25.  These foreshadowed the transition to the NHS and, combined with the societal features of a large industrial population with below national average health levels, led to the creation of a distinctive NHS in Scotland.

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