Happy 74th birthday NHS: Staff, patients, volunteers and the community celebrate over tea
The NHS will celebrate its 74th birthday on Tuesday 5 July, bringing with it an opportunity to recognise more than seven decades of innovation and adaptation to meet the changing health care needs of each successive generation.
To help mark the occasion, hundreds of staff, patients and volunteers across Joined Up Care Derbyshire, as well as local communities, will be coming together to take part in the biggest NHS Big Tea ever. After a challenging couple of years, it gives patients and communities an opportunity to come together for a moment of thanks and raise money to help the NHS go that bit further for our staff and patients. It also gives health and social workers a chance to celebrate over a ‘cuppa’ and reflect on their incredible role taking care of the public, during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.
At national level, over the last two years NHS Charities Together have funded over 600 projects in every Trust and Health Board across the UK to support staff, patients and volunteers from counselling and wellbeing rooms, to specialist equipment and training for volunteers. This year, NHS Charities Together hopes to make the event the biggest NHS Big Tea to date, with a collective fundraising target of over £775,000. We can all play a role in supporting the NHS in this birthday year, by volunteering, raising money for a local NHS charity, or by taking steps to look after our own health and using services wisely.
The birthday falls just days after one of the biggest changes in health care to date came into place, shaping the future of our NHS and local health and social care. On Friday 1 July, new legislation changed the way that health and social care systems across the country, including Joined Up Care Derbyshire, work together. This change makes further strides towards providing the people of Derbyshire and Derby with joined-up care and improving the wellbeing of local people. For more information, visit the Joined Up Care Derbyshire Integrated Care System page.
As we move forward with a new way of working with our partners, we are excited for the future of our NHS and the impact health care systems can have when working collaboratively on the health, wellbeing and lives of the people in our county.
We want to thank colleagues across the health and care system in Derby and Derbyshire and our community, for their support. Every fundraising activity or donation to the NHS makes a big difference.