2.  When health secretary Aneurin Bevan opens Park Hospital in Manchester, it is the climax of a hugely ambitious plan to bring good healthcare to all. For the first time, hospitals, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, opticians and dentists are brought together under one umbrella organisation to provide services that are free for all at the point of delivery.  The central principles are clear: the health service will be available to all and financed entirely from taxation, which means that people pay into it according to their means.central principles

3. The history of social services is different from that of the NHS in that this was no one single setup to coordinate the provision of social care. To some extent this reflects the uncertainly about what social care is/should be. Social care services have mainly been the responsibility of local authorities (county and borough councils) and have been developed for particular groups of people:  Children and families  Older people  People with disabilities (physical, sensory, learning)  People with the mental illness. In 1945 Dennis O’Neil died as a result of child abuse giving rise to public and professional outcry. A committee of enquiry was set up headed by Myra Curtis which published its report ‘The Care of Children’ in 1946. this formed the basis of the Children Act 1948 making local authorities responsible for childcare and establishing Children’s Departments with specialised children’s officers whose job it was to promote children's welfare. Over the next 15-20 years the work expanded from accommodating homeless children and receiving children into care, to dealing with child abuse and undertaking preventive work with families. Prior to this, much of the work with vulnerable and deprived children was carried out by voluntary groups e.g. Dr. Barnado’s and NSPPC (both set up in the C19th) although local authorities also had a responsibility for child welfare. The work of children’s officers formed the basis of today’s social work with children and families