1948

I'm not sure one can describe a year as good or as bad, unless perhaps if talking about wine. I think though that one can legitimately suggest one year is more significant than another in national or international terms but would have to be ready to qualify such proclamations. The year I bring to your attention might be thought of as only three years after the ending of hostilities and when rationing was still the norm. There is far more, however, to 1948 than that. Let us have a look at the events and the people in the process of turning 60.

Lulu and Walter Smith would seem to be the best known Scots born that year but so was the Duke of Rothesay (HRH The Prince of Wales.) The Australian sweetheart Olivia Newton John and the, rather less attractive, rockers Alice Cooper, Robert Plant and Ozzy Osbourne also ventilated their lungs for the first time. Those who had made their marks but were taking their last breaths included: Mahatma Ghandi, Unity Mitford, Babe Ruth and Orville Wright.

On the world stage, Harry Truman was US president, Clement Attlee was prime minister and Arthur Woodburn, Secretary of State for Scotland. The United Nations established the World Health Organization and adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In a retrograde step, Malan became president of South Africa, thus beginning the apartheid regime.

For me, 1948 was particularly significant for two reasons. Firstly, it was the year the Morris Minor was officially launched. The “Moggie or “jelly mould” beloved by so many was the car that really brought motoring to the working classes. It was pitched at a suitable price, was roomy and was said to have superior cornering and handling. It may only have been one in a line of Morrises (between the Morris Eight and Morris 1100) made in Cowley, Oxfordshire, but by 1961 was the first British million-seller. Critics may argue this spelled the end of the traditional railway network and paved the way to traffic congestion and this may be true, but never could it have been done with such character or in greater style. I recall our family's first car, a beige Moggie complete with trafficators and two-piece split windscreen. The Morris Traveller which I bought soon after our marriage remains my favourite car and I still see it occasionally, out and about. It almost brings a tear to my eye that I parted with her (the Morris, not Mrs Moody-she's still here!)

Of only marginally less impact in my (working) life was the introduction, that same year, of The National Health Service. 1948 was in fact over 230 years after John Bellers first proposed a plan for such a service but good old Nye Bevin is the chap credited with this major achievement. Doctors are grateful for this political initiative but rightly remain sceptical and fearful of the intentions, motives and foresight (or lack thereof) of successive governments.

The NHS may indeed be “the envy of the world” and its founding principles remain largely intact: a universal service, funded by taxes, which provides care on the basis of need, not on capacity to pay. Alternatives to this, as seen in other countries, are almost too awful to contemplate. The problem is, the NHS was conceived in the belief that major disease would be eradicated and its role would be largely preventative rather than curative. Latterly, sophisticated investigations, drug costs, and the increasing tendency to over investigate in a defensive fashion have led to an explosion in the budgetary requirements. It is also, to an extent, a victim of its own success, as the increasing elderly population need ongoing care on a scale that could never have been anticipated.

The NHS is the country's single biggest employer and it is my belief, as sad as it is to say, that I do not see it being able to continue in its present “A&E”-Always and Everyone form. I suspect rationing, as was already present in 1948 albeit in a different form, will become ever more apparent. The crucial element is that this is determined by evidence and research and not left to politicians or policy-makers to decide. I also expect an insurance system of sorts to be introduced, similar to what operates in the private sector at present. The obvious problem with this is that there will be those who cannot get sufficient cover and will be denied essential or emergency care. That will be a tragedy.

The Morris Minor and the NHS are my favourite “machines” and institutions, co-incidentally created the same year. 1948 is also a significant year for this old scribe-but I couldn't possibly tell you why!

Dr Ken B Moody