Free healthcare at the point of use comes from the core principles at the founding of the National Health Service by the Labour government in 1948. In practice, "free at the point of use '' normally means that anyone legitimately fully registered with the system (i.e. in possession of an NHS number), available to legal UK residents regardless of nationality (but not non-resident British citizens), can access the full breadth of critical and non-critical medical care, without payment except for some specific NHS services, for example eye tests, dental care, prescriptions and aspects of long - term care. These charges are usually lower than equivalent services provided by a private provider, and many are free to vulnerable or low - income patients.
when did national health care start in england
1948