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NHS
National Health Service
The NHS is the UK's publicly funded health service, free at the point of use.
Summary
- It opened on 5 July 1948, when Aneurin Bevan was health minister.
- It is paid for mainly from general taxation.
- England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each run their own service.
- The NHS Constitution sets out the principles and values of the service in England.
- In March 2025 the government announced that NHS England, the body that runs the service in England, would be abolished and its work moved into the Department of Health and Social Care. The bill to do this is still before Parliament.
In practice
- The NHS Constitution for England lists seven principles. The first is that the NHS provides a comprehensive service, available to all.
- The second is that access is based on clinical need and never on a person's ability to pay.
- In Hong Kong
- Hong Kong's public hospitals are run by the Hospital Authority, a statutory body set up in 1990. It manages 44 hospitals and institutions.
- Care is subsidised and patients pay set fees. Since 1 January 2026 these are HK$400 for an A&E visit and HK$300 a day on an acute ward for Hong Kong residents.
- A patient's fees are capped at HK$10,000 a year, and the stated aim is for public money to keep covering 90 per cent of the cost of public healthcare.
Interview questions
- What are the founding principles of the NHS?
- What is the biggest challenge facing the NHS today?
- Should the NHS stay free at the point of use?
Sources
- The National Archivesnationalarchives.gov.uk/…/the-foundation-of-the-nhs
- GOV.UKgov.uk/…/the-nhs-constitution-for-england
- Hospital Authorityha.org.hk/…/abtus_intro-en_8.htm
- Hospital Authorityha.org.hk/…/fees_and_charges.asp
- Hong Kong Governmentinfo.gov.hk/…/P2025122900406.htm
Practise answering these with a mentor
Our interview preparation has you answer questions like these out loud, with feedback on each answer.
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More NHS hot topics, medical ethics case studies and medical school interview questions are in AlphaMED Resources, which we add to and update through the application cycle.