NHS' 75th birthday | News and events

NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough is celebrating 75 years of local NHS history this week, and looking ahead to what the next 75 years may bring.

The area has seen some incredible NHS milestones over the years – from Europe’s first liver transplant in 1968, at Addenbrooke’s, to the launch of a world-first paediatric heart transplant programme by Royal Papworth Hospital in 2020. 

Local NHS hospitals have grown and flourished over the years. The North Cambs Hospital, based in Wisbech, originally had the capacity to care for 26 patients when it opened in 1873. 150 years later, the site now brings together a number of different NHS organisations who all help the local community get the care they need close to home.

Royal Papworth Hospital, originally established as a ‘colony’ for tuberculosis patients in 1918, is now a world-leading heart and lung hospital. Addenbrooke’s Hospital, meanwhile, opened in 1766 with 20 beds – and is now a renowned institution, with teams often pioneering new research and treatment to care for patients.

Over the years local NHS teams, including pharmacies, GP practices, community and hospital teams, have played a role in a range of vital national research programmes and pilots, including the PrEP impact trial for people at high risk of getting HIV, tests for a new Parkinson’s treatment, and recently the clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccination. They have also driven important innovations, including a ‘sponge on a string’ cancer screening test that makes it easier and less invasive to test patients for oesophageal cancer within GP surgeries.

Now, as staff and local communities come together to celebrate the NHS’ 75^th birthday, NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough is also looking to the future – with the publication of its new Joint Forward Plan. This plan sets out NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough’s ambitious vision for the next five years of health and care services in the area. The plan includes a commitment to integrate health and care services more, address inequalities that exist across the area, and put more focus on prevention to help people stay well for longer.

Jan Thomas, Chief Executive Officer at NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, part of the ICS, said:

“The NHS’ 75th Birthday is a great opportunity to think about how the NHS has helped residents in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. In turn the NHS and its staff would like to thank everyone for their ongoing support.

“Our services continue to evolve and improve to make sure that over the next 75 years you have access to the healthcare you need, when you need it.”

The Joint Forward Plan, as well as an Executive Summary, can be read via the ICS’ website. To find out more about the NHS’ rich local history, visit https://www.cpics.org.uk/nhs-75.