60 years ago, Labour created the NHS. It was born in a society where healthcare was exclusive, expensive and unavailable for many ordinary people. To most citizens, illness meant desperation, suffering and even destitution. Thousands died from diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, tuberculosis, diphtheria and polio because they could not afford treatment. Britain needed a system that provided healthcare to everyone, free at the point of delivery, based on need and not the ability to pay.

It was the Beveridge Report that demonstrated the need for universal healthcare and it was the Labour Government that made it a reality. Despite opposition from the Tories, who voted against its creation, the NHS was launched in 1948. Through its early years, times were tough but the NHS helped the British people cope with post-war society. For the first time ever hospital services, family practitioner services (doctors, pharmacists, opticians and dentists) and community-based services were available to the public for free under one organisation.

Since then, the NHS has proved itself vital to the British people. It has been a source of confidence as families know that they will receive the best possible treatment, whatever their financial circumstances. The NHS became a symbol of freedom from fear and of a government on your side.

Find out more about Labour and the NHS here.

And see Alan Johnson, Health Secretary, in our YouTube video below, tell us more about the future of the NHS, on what it's like to have the "best job in the world" and on the real importance of "changing things for the better".

The National Health Service is 60 years old on the 5th July. A Thanksgiving Service to celebrate one of our country’s greatest achievements will be held in Chester Cathedral on Sunday 6th July at 6.30pm. Everyone is welcome to attend the service that has been organised by Stephen Cross, the Foundation Trust Secretary of the Countess of Chester Hospital.

The post-war Labour Government created the NHS in 1948 and, for the first time, healthcare was available to the public for free. Older readers may remember how poorer families struggled to pay for medical treatment or life saving surgery before the advent of the NHS.

When the NHS was established there were five local hospitals; the Royal Infirmary in the city centre, Chester City Hospital in Hoole, Deva Hospital in Liverpool Road, Barrowmore Hospital in Barrow and Ellesmere Port Cottage Hospital.

The Royal Infirmary was founded as a charitable institution in 1755. It was housed in the upper part of the Bluecoat School in Northgate Street until a purpose-built hospital was opened in St Martin in the Field. Extensions were added over the next 200 years. The fine original 1761 building overlooking the City Walls was converted into apartments after the Infirmary closed in the 1990s.

The Cheshire County Lunatic Asylum was opened in 1829. When the NHS took over the running of the hospital from the County Council it was re-named the Deva Hospital. The improvements in the care of people with learning disabilities and mental health problems resulted in a drastic reduction in the number of in-patients. The 1829 building is now the headquarters of the Western Cheshire Primary Care Trust and the state-of-the-art Bowmere Hospital has replaced the gloomy Victorian wards.

The City Hospital in Hoole Lane began life as the Chester Poor Law Union Workhouse in 1873. It amalgamated with the Royal Infirmary in 1963. Barrowmore Hospital was opened in 1920 as a sanatorium and a "colony for ex-servicemen". When it became part of the NHS it was transformed into a regional centre for major surgery, treating patients from across Cheshire and Merseyside. It too closed following the opening of the Countess.

Dedicated and skilled NHS staff have provided generations of care for all of us. People are now living, on average, 10 years longer than they did before 1948. The NHS remains Britain’s most cherished public service and the fairest system of healthcare in the world. Today the NHS is focused on preventing ill-health as well as curing it.

LABOUR'S MANIFESTO FOR CHESHIRE WEST & CHESTER - 2008-2011

Labour has recently published its manifesto for Cheshire West & Chester. These are our ten pledges to all of the new authority's citizens:

1. Establish a modern creative and dynamic Council, fit for the 21st Century and designed to deliver high quality services, which involve users and respond to their needs
2. Produce a budget that meets needs, that is value for money, and at a council tax that people can afford
3. Help children and young people to achieve their full potential
4. Deliver a better deal for pensioners – at home and in the community - by reducing the home care charges by 50%
5. Work to ensure that all residents have access to our services, giving special attention to those with special needs and those in our rural communities
6. Introduce 20mph limits outside all schools and other areas where there is public support
7. Work in partnership to combat anti social behaviour, pollution and to create a cleaner environment
8. Tackle low incomes and unemployment of the Cheshire West population
9. Work with other authorities to provide joined up services and value for money, where possible by combining with other public agencies.
10. To work with local MPs and MEPs for the betterment of the area

JOIN CHRISTINE RUSSELL'S "ODEON ACTION GROUP"

The last city centre cinema in Chester, the Odeon, closed in June 2007. Christine formed the Odeon Action Group to campaign to get a cinema back into the Odeon. Chester Labour firmly believe that Chester deserves and needs a local cinema.

Click here to find out more on how this campaign started.

Chester lost its last remaining city centre cinema in June 2007 when the Odeon closed. The cinema is a Grade II listed art-deco building specifically set aside for community use in Chester's Local Plan.

In July 2007 Christine Russell MP formed the Odeon Action Group, comprising members of Chester Civic Trust, Chester Film Society, local arts enthusiasts and student representatives, to begin campaigning to reintroduce cinema into the Odeon building.

The Odeon Action Group is firmly of the opinion that Chester already has an abundance of bars and restaurants. The city has lost its theatre, a concert hall remains a pipedream and, if the rumours are true, the proposed Performing Arts Centre may be dropped from the Northgate Development. It is therefore absolutely paramount that Chester City Council throws its weight behind the campaign to re-open the Odeon as a multi-purpose arts venue, including a minimum of two cinema screens.

Register your support for the campaign. Send us an email to admin@chesterlabour.org with the following information:

• Name
• Postcode
• Mobile
• Email

The Labour Party may contact you using the details you provide.

Shop regularly at Tesco, Asda or Amazon? Looking for that ideal gift for a birthday or anniversary? Why not help raise funds for the Labour Party at the same time? It won't cost you a penny more and your purchase will help to spread the progressive word here in Chester. Buy from a wide range of online stores (Tesco, Asda, Mothercare, Game, Amazon.co.uk, John Lewis etc.) and in complete confidence. Go to www.buy.at/chesterlabour.

See what Arlene McCarthy MEP is doing for the North West - click here to go to her website.

Want to know more about the latest achievements of the National Minimum Wage? Go to www.direct.gov.uk/nmw to find out more.

Any comments about this website? Email us at admin@chesterlabour.org.

Christine Russell MP says welcome to Chester Labour - the Labour Party's website in Chester.

Chester Labour is Chester's voice - the voice all Cestrians have been looking for, whether rich or poor, young or old. An honest voice, a true voice.

This month the big news is the NHS at 60 and what it means for Chester. At the top of this page you can find out more about this exciting anniversary.

Chester is one of the best and most forward-looking cities in the whole of Europe, with an unparalleled culture, heritage, people - and reputation for openness, generosity and solidarity. Let's keep it that way with Labour - a new Labour for Britain.