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What do you know about the NHS?

Is everything you read, see, and hear from the media accurate?

One thing for sure the NHS touches all of our lives at some point.

Joining the NHS, you will make a difference to the lives of the people of England. You must be ready for the huge challenge and willing to bring your unique contribution to an organisation that is undergoing unprecedented change. Or are you content to just sit on the sidelines and let somebody else lead the changes?

If you are thinking about joining the NHS, these are some of the facts that you really need to know

The Facts

  • Founded in 1948, the NHS was created from the vision that good health care should be available to all, regardless of wealth. This is a vision that we continue to work with today.
  • 65 million UK residents have access to health care and are able to take advantage of services that are free at point of use.
  • The NHS employs more than 1.3million people, including some 90,000 hospital doctors, 35,000 general practitioners (GPs), 400,000 nurses and 16,000 ambulance staff.
  • We are one of the world's largest publicly funded health services and the single biggest organisation in Europe.
  • Our annual budget is broken down into: around 60% to pay staff, 20% to pay for drugs and supplies, and 20% split between buildings, equipment and training, medical equipment, catering and cleaning.
  • The NHS is undergoing unprecedented change as a result of the new government’s White Paper, "Equity and Excellence – Liberating the NHS".
  • The NHS needs to release efficiency savings of £20billion over the next 4 years.
  • The NHS needs leaders to drive through the changes, improve the quality of services and release efficiency savings, as confirmed by David Nicholson, Chief Executive of the NHS (and a Graduate scheme alumnus)
    • ‘.....we need our leaders to rise to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities ahead. It is great public service leadership, more than anything else, that will be the key to improving quality and productivity."

All of this provides a ‘really’ exhilarating, challenging and ever-changing environment in which to develop your career AND the opportunity for you to make a difference to the lives of real people.

Hello, and welcome to the NHS. We’ve been looking after the health of British people for over 60 years and will continue to do so for many more to come. Here we’ll tell you more about the size and scope of the organisation, and just how much we continue to change and evolve.