Your Stories

On the 60th anniversary of the NHS Ted Robbins asked people what did we do before we had the NHS...

When Hazel was seven she had all her teeth out on her sofa in the living room! She went on to tell the story of her brother who once bit through his tongue and also once had to have stitches after someone threw a brick at him. She then revealed he is Davy Jones of The Monkees!

Pamela’s brother ended up with a potty stuck on his head, need we say more?!

Margaret told Ted that in their house before the NHS their doctor used to send his agent round to the houses to collect some money every week...

Tony told Ted that they called their collector the doctors woman, she used to call round to collect a shilling every week.

Jerry told Ted how his doctor offered him an apple and then proceeded to lance the boil on his neck as he took a bite. All for the princely sum of half a crown.

Elizabeth told Ted that after her father died the local doctor offered to hold a surgery in their kitchen for the neighbours he would treat her Elizabeth for free.

When Olive lived in Warton she had her first baby, she weighed 7lb 2oz and it cost 4 pounds 10 shillings to have her in 1947.

Margaret’s father fell ill and the doctor canvassed local businesses for help in getting him to Warrington from St Annes. A local hotel, the majestic paid for a taxi there and back.

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Most of us will be lucky enough never to have to call 999. But it's comforting to know that if you have to there'll be someone there to help out. BBC Lancashire's Tim Padfield went out with an ambulance crew in Blackpool. Here's what he got up to...

"If you think "Casualty" or "Holby City" is exciting, you should try spending some time with a REAL ambulance crew. That's just what I did today!

My brief - to go to Blackpool Ambulance Station and follow Vicky Bright and Caroline Evans on their shift which started at 7.30am.

I was hoping I'd have time to speak to them live into Tony Livesey's breakfast programme just after they started work. But, almost the second Tony started talking to us, they were scrambled to their first job.

Vicky Bright and Caroline Evans

For a short time, we didn't know what we were going to. Even I, as a back seat passenger, felt nervous - especially with the sirens blaring a path through the morning traffic.

It turned out we were going to see 10 year old Henry. He'd been sick for much of the night and was complaining of stomach pains. He wasn't best pleased with the thought of going in an ambulance but, with his mum by his side, Vicky and Caroline took him to hospital for a check-up.

Next, it was back to the station... but not for long. Almost straight away, we were off again.

This time to a hotel to help a diabetic holidaymaker from Scotland called John. He was suffering a hypoglycemic attack. His blood sugar level was too low. Flat out on the bed, he looked dreadful.

His girlfriend was worried, but Vicky and Caroline knew just what to do. A glucose injection soon did the trick, along with a nice sweet cup of tea and some toast. Within about 15 minutes John was sitting up, chatting and laughing.

Not long after this I had to leave Vicky and Caroline. As I was saying my goodbyes, the bleeper went off again...

My time with them had ended as it had begun. Another call to another case. It could be anyone. It could be anything."

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On the NHS's 60th anniversary, North West Tonight spent a day at Blackpool Victoria, one of the area's busiest hospitals...