The Birmingham buildings turning blue for NHS 75th anniversary

The service that touches the lives of all the residents of the UK has turned 75 and UK cities, including Birmingham, are doing something special to honour it.

The National Health Service (NHS) has completed three fourths of a century since it was first formed in 1948. In recent times, the NHS has faced several issues including funding cuts, long wait times, lack of staff and industrial action. Despite the issues, there were an estimated 329 million appointments in 2022 in primary care alone, according to the King’s Fund.

The NHS has 1.6 million interactions with patients every day and that saves lives. In total, the healthcare service had an estimated 570 million patient contacts with GP, community, mental health, hospital, NHS 111 and ambulance services in 2021/22 - which shows how hard they work to ensure people’s health is cared for.

Even with several millions being treated, the wait time has increased to a record 7.4 million in April 2023, according to The Guardian. Conservative MP and health minister Maria Caulfield speaking on the 75th anniversary to Sky News said that the waiting time will likely go up further.

With everything that they do for UK residents, a celebration of their hard work is much deserved. In 2021, more than 70 landmarks around the country lit up blue, including civic centres, hospitals and sports stadiums. And, tonight (Wednesday, July 5) a total of 23 Midlands buildings will light up blue, including three in Birmingham are turning blue for this momentous day.

Here are all the Birmingham and Midlands buildings that will light up blue:

1. Aston University
2. Bandstand at Whitehall Recreation Ground, Rugby
3. Belvoir Castle, Grantham
4. Clock Tower and Tower Esplanade, Skegness
5. Conference Aston
6. Coventry University
7. Dudley Council House
8. Hanley Town Hall, Stoke-on-Trent
9. Harborough District Council
10. Heckington Windmill, Lincolnshire
11. Hereford County Hospital
12. Keele University
13. Kettering and Northampton hospitals
14. Lincoln Cathedral
15. Matlock Town Hall
16. Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
17. Shire Hall, Stafford
18. Southwater, Telford town centre
19. Tamworth Castle
20. The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital Birmingham
21. The South Holland Centre, Spalding
22. The Square, Market Harborough, Leicestershire
23. Walsall Manor Hospital

People are encouraged to take photos and share them via social media using the hashtags: #NHS75 and #LightUpBlue.

NHS Big Tea

This year, members of the royal family, Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton have wished the NHS on their social media by taking part in the NHS Big Tea.

The future king and queen wrote: “Happy 75th Birthday NHS! A pleasure to join an extra special @nhscharitiestogether tea party to celebrate just some of the many incredible people that make the NHS what it is!”

There were celebrations at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham as well this week at a special NHS Big Tea Party with British tea brand PG Tips, which is the official sponsor of the 2023 NHS Big Tea- a fundraising initiative led by NHS Charities Together, set up to support NHS charities.

University Hospitals Birmingham Charity CEO, Mike Hammond said, “As well as supporting over 2.2 million patients during their treatment journey, University Hospitals Birmingham Charity is proud to support the 24,000 staff at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

“It’s so important that staff get the support they need as that in turn helps the patients they treat; that’s why we are hosting NHS Big Tea events at our four hospital sites to raise funds that help us go over and above what the NHS can provide as standard, providing ward refurbishments and state-of-the-art equipment along with smaller items like toys for our younger patients in the Children’s Departments.

“We are so grateful to our supporters and donors and encourage others to join us in celebrating 75 years of the NHS as we aim to help patients, their families, and staff for the next 75 years.”

To help raise funds with a brew, visit the NHS Big Tea website.