Aneurin Bevan, chief architect of the National Health Service, was one of the most important ministers of post-war Britain. A lifelong champion of social justice and the rights of working people, he established the NHS in 1948 as the world's first universal healthcare system, funded from general taxation, publicly provided and free at the point of need.

Despite the economic hardships of the immediate post-war period, Bevan was determined that the new National Health Service should give the very best care to all the people equally, irrespective of how rich or poor they were.

For almost seven decades now, the NHS has served Britain in the same spirit that Bevan himself set forth in his account of its founding, 'In Place of Fear':

“... no society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means.”

National polls consistently name the National Health Service as the thing that makes most people proud to be British. It reflects the diversity of our country, caring for and staffed by people from a multitude of races and backgrounds. The 70th anniversary of the founding of the NHS in 2018 is the ideal time to recognise its founder. We believe featuring Aneurin Bevan on our £20 banknote is a fitting tribute.