Today (5 July) marks 75 years since the National Health Service act was brought into effect in 1948. 

The NHS was the first universal health system to be available to all, free at the point of delivery. 

In Stockport, celebrations have been taking place across the borough. 

Members of the Stockport NHS outpatient delivery team, for example, cycled 87 miles in three hours to raise money for the Stockport NHS Charity. 

Meanwhile, today will see the 'NHS Big Tea Party' at Stepping Hill hospital, with fundraising games also set to take place tomorrow. 

Stockport NHS also celebrated its own 75 years of history. 

Stepping Hill Hospital, built in 1905, became part of the newly founded NHS in 1948. Before then it had served as a military hospital during the first world war. 

Stepping Hill Hospital pictued in 1908, 40 years prior to becoming part of the NHS (Image - Public domain, author unknown)

Now looking after a population of around 350,000 people, the hospital was one of the first centres in Greater Manchester for high-risk surgery. 

A new emergency care campus is being constructed on site, due to be completed in March 2024. 

Celebrating its anniversary, a statement from the NHS reads: "Treating over a million people a day in England, the NHS touches all of our lives. When it was founded in 1948, the NHS was the first universal health system to be available to all, free at the point of delivery. 

"Today, nine in 10 people agree that healthcare should be free of charge, more than four in five agree that care should be available to everyone, and that the NHS makes them most proud to be British."

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