How the NHS was born in Newtown

Newtown’s role in the origins of the National Health Service will be explored at this month’s meeting of the Newtown and District Civic Society.

On Tuesday, 11 November, at 2pm, at the Crescent Christian Centre, Milford Road, historian and author Emma Snow will give a talk titled “The First NHS: How it was started at Newtown Hospital.” The presentation will examine how Newtown’s early healthcare initiatives helped shape ideas that later influenced the creation of the NHS.

Emma’s research examines the work of Welsh industrialist and MP David Davies and Montgomeryshire-born reformer John Tomley, who helped establish the Welsh National Memorial Association (WNMA) in 1910 to tackle tuberculosis across Wales. The organisation was one of the first publicly funded health services of its kind, and many historians see it as a forerunner to the National Health Service founded in 1948.

Newtown’s own hospital, originally the Montgomery County Infirmary, was founded in 1868 and later became part of the NHS at its formation, marking a key moment in the area’s long history of healthcare provision.

The subject is particularly relevant today, as plans for a new health and wellbeing hub in Newtown continue under the North Powys Wellbeing Programme, which aims to modernise services for future generations.

Admission to the Civic Society meeting is £3 for non-members.