The NHS marked its 70th anniversary in 2018. Oral history offers a unique research method that can provide insight into how it has been experienced over those 70 years.

Drawing on Professor Graham Smith's research in medical humanities, the Oral History Unit has been working in partnership with colleagues from the Faculty of Medical Sciences and the Institute for Ageing to conduct a pilot study of participants in the Newcastle Thousand Families Study. The research explores the recollections of men and women who were born in Newcastle one year before the National Health Service came into existence. Studied from birth, participants have taken part in an epidemiological study that continues to this day. Their memories will not only put this pioneering medical research into historical context, but will provide an illuminating record of their participation and its impacts. 

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