To celebrate the 70th birthday of the NHS on Thursday 5 July, the RCP is marking the special contribution the health service has made to British life with a programme of activity across the week.
Over the next 5 days, RCP representatives – as well as past and present members – will participate in a number of events, reflecting on the NHS’s history and sharing our hopes for a thriving future.
Monday
BBC Radio 4's Woman’s Hour explores the history of women in medicine
RCP museum curator Dr Kristin Hussey contributes to a piece on the history of medicine from the female view, sharing highlights from our Women in medicine exhibition.
You can read Kristin's thoughts on what a museum of British medicine since the foundation of the NHS would look like, what objects it would include, and the stories it would tell, in her blog for the People’s History of the NHS website.
In our own 500th anniversary year, the RCP museum is seeking to develop its collections and welcomes donations that relate to medical practice in the 20th century, especially the early years of the NHS.
Tuesday
Does the NHS have a future?
RCP president Professor Dame Jane Dacre joins an expert panel from nursing, medicine, health policy and research at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine to debate the challenges and prospects facing the NHS's future.
Wednesday
The RCP and the NHS: there at the start, now and for the future
What was the role of the RCP in the conceptual and early stages of the NHS in the 1940s and 1950s? Library, archive and museum services manager Julie Beckwith shares the RCP's history with Britain's most-loved institution in a special blog.
Thursday
Birthday messages and #LightUpBlue
RCP president Professor Dame Jane Dacre delivers her birthday message, while RCP registrar and president-elect Dr Andrew Goddard will be in conversation with Jennifer Dixon, chief executive of the Health Foundation, discussing NHS challenges, opportunities and future-proofing.
Dr Goddard will also embark on the next leg of his epic RCP500 Charter Cycle, touring hospitals in his own NHS trust in Derbyshire, engaging with physicians and raising money for Physicians for Africa.
And in the evening, the RCP's main building at 11 St Andrews Place, Regent's Park, will join the 100-plus landmarks and buildings up and down the country to #LightUpBlue in a closing celebration.
Friday
RCP launches health sector policy and campaign survey
On the final day of our weeklong NHS celebration we are launching a member survey asking for policy and campaign priorities for the future.
On Wednesday 25 July the RCP will be hosting an NHS 70 'survive and thrive' evening in Liverpool, where guests will debate how the NHS can thrive for another 70 years while overcoming the challenges it faces from the longest financial squeeze in its history. Tickets are available now.
