With Health Minister Ann Keen MP, Medical Director of Clinical Services David Taube
and Medical Director of Professional Development David Mitchell

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I was joined by Health Minister Ann Keen at Charing Cross Hospital on Thursday 3rd July to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the National Health Service.

The NHS, one of the most popular and respected national institutions in Britain, was founded by Clement Attlee’s great reforming Labour government in 1948. It replaced a piecemeal system of private insurance and charity, and ensured that – for the first time in history – all people had access to good quality healthcare free at the point of need.

It is one of Britain’s crowning achievements in the twentieth century. I am immensely proud that it was established, and prouder that, 60 years on, we have made the choices to allow it to continue from strength to strength.

But it is not last century’s politicians and civil servants we should be thanking most: the dedicated medical, nursing and ancillary staff of the NHS deserve our deepest gratitude– it is their tireless efforts on behalf of patients that really make the difference to people's lives.

I feel a particular affinity with Charing Cross Hospital – I was born in Fulham and have lived here all my life, so this has been the hospital I have come to, it has been the local hospital for several generations of my family, and now of course, my constituents benefit from the superb level of care and expertise provided here.

Ann Keen MP cutting the birthday cake with staff member Josie O'Sullivan

Before joining staff member Josie O’Sullivan to cut the birthday cake, Health minister Anne Keen told the assembled medical and administrative staff how she had started her working life as an NHS clerk, and later become a nurse, which provided the most rewarding moments of her career.

Since 1997, the Labour government has increased investment in the NHS year on year – ending decade of underinvestment and cuts. In Hammersmith Hospital NHS Trust and Hammersmith and Fulham PCT, over £230m extra investment has been allocated over the past eight years - allowing the improvement of many vital services.

By the end of this year, the NHS is on track to meet its target no patient will have to wait more than 18 weeks for an operation: in 1997 waiting lists stood at over 1.2 million patients, and waits of 18 months or more were not uncommon.

Andy with Ann Keen MP

The local area now benefits from a new Hospital Trust backed by Imperial College, which will bring the best research and treatment in the UK to the doorstep of residents. Charing Cross Hospital is continuing to thrive in spite of deliberate misinformation and false rumours that it would be closed. The new Maggie's Cancer centre at Charing Cross is just one example this year of major innovation. Hammersmith is awaiting a £50m new health centre, only delayed by the council's refusal to grant planning consent. The new Riverside Centre, build with a £2.5m investment from the Government, means that the latest surgical techniques are now available with shorter waiting times for outpatients.