Lesson video

Hello, I'm Mr. Marchant and I'll be your history teacher for today's lesson.

I'm really excited to have you joining me as we explore today's subject.

And my number one priority will be to help ensure that you can meet our lesson objective for today.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our EdeXcel unit on medicine in Britain and our AQA unit on health and the people.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to evaluate the impact of the welfare state on public health in modern Britain.

There are four key words which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those are, welfare state, public health, and sanitary and prescription.

A welfare state is a system in which the government accepts responsibility for protecting people's quality of life.

Public health refers to actions and systems intended to prevent disease and maintain good health within communities.

If something is unsanitary, it is dirty or unhealthy, and therefore likely to cause disease.

And prescriptions are the medicine someone needs to treat a health condition.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts and will begin by focusing on the welfare state.

A welfare state was created in Britain during the 1940s.

This involved the government accepting significantly more responsibility for managing public health.

Both World War II and the Beveridge report were very important for encouraging the creation of the welfare state.

During the early 20th century, the British government accepted increasing responsibility for supporting the welfare of some of the most vulnerable groups in society.

For instance, old age pensions were introduced in 1908 to help the elderly.

And in 1919, a ministry of health was set up for the very first time.

Nevertheless, before the outbreak of World War II, there were considerable differences between the quality of life of Britain's richest and poorest groups.

The poor usually had worse access to education and suffered from both low wages and a threat of unemployment.

In fact, Britain's poor also faced greater public health challenges than the rich.

For one, doctors and hospitals often charged a fee for their services.

Although these costs were not always high, many people on low incomes could not afford the fees and therefore struggled to access medical care.

Similarly, millions of people could not afford to live anywhere else, but in slums where their health was threatened by overcrowding and poor access to facilities like toilets.

So, let's reflect on everything we've just heard.

Why did many poor people struggle to access medical care before World War II? Was it because, they could not afford the medical fees, because laws prevented them from going to hospitals or because there were almost no doctors and nurses? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was A, many poor people struggled to access medical care before World War II, because they could not afford the medical fees they would've been required to pay.

And let's try another question.

This time, I want you to identify one reason why slums were unsanitary.

Pause video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said one of the following reasons.

That there was overcrowding in many slums and that often people in the slums had poor access to facilities like toilets.

World War II broke out in 1939 and affected virtually all aspects of life in Britain over the next six years.

Both soldiers and ordinary people made difficult sacrifices to support Britain's war effort.

It was widely felt that these sacrifices should lead to the promise of something new to help all people in Britain once the war had ended.

This feeling encouraged many people to support the creation of a welfare state, to support people in post-war Britain.

In 1941, the government instructed William Beveridge to report on welfare support in Britain, and to make recommendations for the future.

The Beveridge report was published in 1942 and argued that once World War II was over, the government should fight the five giants which created hardship in people's lives.

Those giants were want, otherwise known as poverty.

Squalor, which could be referred to as poor housing.

Disease.

Idleness by which was meant unemployment, and ignorance by which the report was referring to poor education.

Beveridge argued that greater government support in these areas would help people live better lives.

When elections were held at the end of World War II, the Labour Party promised to create a welfare state by following the Beveridge reports recommendations.

This proved very popular and the Labour party was elected to power.

So, let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we just heard.

We have a statement which reads, people's experiences during World War II led many to oppose the creation of a welfare state.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So why is it that that original statement was incorrect? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said, many people hoped that in return for their sacrifices during World War II, a welfare state could be developed to help all people once the war had ended.

Let's try another question.

This time I want you to list the five giants identified by the 1942 Beveridge report.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done to everybody, who is able to identify all five of the following.

Want, disease, squalor, ignorance, and idleness.

These were the five giants, which the Beveridge report said created hardship in people's lives and which it recommended the government should try to defeat.

And let's try one final question.

Which statement about the Labour government elected in 1945 is correct? That it ignored the recommendation of the Beveridge report to create a welfare state.

That it opposed the recommendation at the Beveridge report to create a welfare state.

Or that it supported the recommendation of the Beveridge report to create a welfare state.

Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was C.

The Labour government elected in 1945, at the end of World War II supported the recommendation of the Beveridge report to create a welfare state in Britain.

So, we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about the welfare state into practise.

We are gonna split task A into two parts.

Firstly, I want you to describe one way in which people's lives in Britain.

were affected by the five giants in the years before World War II.

Then, I want you to explain why a welfare state was created in Britain, after the end of World War II.

So pause a video here and press play when you are ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So, I asked you firstly, to describe one way in which people's lives in Britain were affected by the five giants in the years before World War II.

And your answer may have included, before the outbreak of World War II, disease posed a significant threat to the lives of many poor people in Britain.

Because they lived in poverty, many people struggled to afford the fees charged by doctors and hospitals, and as a result, they had poor access to medical care.

So well done if your own response look something like that model, which we've just seen.

And then I asked you to explain why a welfare state was created in Britain after the end of World War II.

And your answer may have included.

During World War II, both soldiers and ordinary people in Britain made sacrifices to support the country's war effort.

Subsequently, it was felt that in return for these sacrifices, something new should be delivered after the war to improve all people's lives.

This led to widespread support for the creation of a welfare state.

When a Labour party promised to create a welfare state during the 1945 election, they received widespread support and won the election.

So again, well done if your own response looks something like that model, which we've just seen.

And so now we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson for today, where we are going to focus on the impacts of the welfare state.

Between 1945 and 1951, Britain's Labour government created a welfare state.

The welfare state had a major impact on public health in Britain, especially for the creation of the NHS.

Efforts to overcome squalor and want have also helped improve public health in modern Britain.

A key feature of postwar Britain's new welfare state was the creation of the National Health Service, better known as the NHS in 1948.

Just before the NHS was founded, there were 8 million people in Britain who hadn't seen a doctor before, mainly because they couldn't afford to.

To overcome this problem of access to medical care.

The Minister of Health at the time, Aneurin Bevan, argued that treatment should be available to rich and poor alike.

Consequently, the NHS provided all people with free healthcare, including treatment from hospitals, doctors, dentists, and opticians.

Therefore, the NHS helped ensure that poverty could not prevent Britain's poor from accessing medical care.

Furthermore, the creation of the NHS has led to greater government investment in medical care, which has also made medical care more widely available.

Whereas there were less than 100,000 doctors and nurses in Britain in 1948.

There are over 300,000 in Britain today.

So, thinking about what we've just heard before the NHS was founded, how many people had never seen a doctor before? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the answer was 8 million.

Before the NHS was created, there were 8 million people in Britain who had never seen a doctor before, mainly because they were too poor.

And let's try another question.

This time we have a statement which reads, the NHS has helped ensure that treatments are available to rich and poor alike.

But is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was true.

But we need to justify our response.

Why is it that that original statement was correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the NHS provides medical treatments free of charge so all people can access them even if they lack money.

Features of the welfare state other than the NHS also help to improve public health.

For instance, financial assistance often referred to as benefits were provided to protect many poor people from want.

These benefits have supported many poorer people in meeting their basic needs, thereby helping to fight health conditions such as malnutrition.

After World War II, governments also fought squalor through larger scale programmes of slum clearance and home building.

By 1948, 280,000 new homes were being built each year across Britain, and this reached 300,000 per year by 1953.

In Glasgow, which had been Britain's most overcrowded city, 300,000 people were relocated from city centre slums to newly constructed housing.

This included tower block flats, which were less crowded and gave many people access to indoor bathrooms and hot water for the first time.

So, let's make sure we have a secure understanding of everything we just heard.

Why were tower blocks built in cities like Glasgow after World War II? Was it to act as hospital buildings for the NHS, to help people make money from construction jobs or to relocate people who had lived in unsanitary slums? So pause the video here and press play when you are ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was C, tower blocks were built in many new cities across Britain, including Glasgow after World War II, so that people could be relocated from unsanitary city centre slums. So, we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about the impacts of the welfare state into practise.

We have a claim from Izzy on the screen.

Izzy says that, "The creation of the NHS has allowed the welfare state to significantly improve public health in Britain." Firstly, I would like you to explain why Izzy's claim is correct, and then I would like you to explain one other reason why the welfare state led to improvements in public health.

So pause the video here and press play when you are ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So, firstly, I asked you to explain why Izzy's claim is correct.

And your answer may have included, Izzy's claim is correct because the creation of the NHS meant that free access was provided to healthcare including treatment in hospitals and from doctors.

Whereas previously there were 8 million people who had never seen a doctor, free treatment through the NHS ensured that even poor people who previously couldn't afford treatment were now able to receive care.

And secondly, I ask you to explain one other reason why the welfare state led to improvements in public health.

And your answer may have included, after World War II, Britain's welfare state oversaw programmes of slum clearance and house building.

Millions of people had lived in slums where overcrowding and poor sanitation made it easier for diseases to spread.

The relocation of people from slums, including to new tower blocks, helped reduce their exposure to unsanitary conditions like overcrowding.

For instance, over 300,000 people were relocated from slums in Glasgow alone.

So, really well done if your answers to both of those questions look something similar to the models which we've just seen.

And so now we're ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today.

Where we are going to focus on the challenges facing the welfare state.

Although the welfare state has helped support the health of millions of people, it has also faced challenges.

In particular, welfare states can be expensive and this has created issues related to funding in modern Britain.

A key challenge for the welfare state almost since it was founded, has been funding.

The NHS benefits, construction of new homes and other responsibilities at a welfare state are all expensive to fund.

This expense has forced governments to make some difficult decisions.

Although most NHS services remain free, since 1951, there have been charges for some treatments, including some services from dentists and opticians, as well as for prescriptions.

This has reduced the ability of some people to access medical care.

In 2023, one survey reported that 10% of people suffering from long-term medical conditions in England had skipped medication to avoid the cost of prescriptions.

Funding difficulties have also impacted the quality of similar support provided by the welfare state.

In the 21st century, roughly 1.

7 million people interact with the NHS each day, creating huge demand for its services.

Consequently, many people are faced with waiting times for some treatments.

At the beginning of 2025, there were almost 3 million patients in the UK who'd been waiting for over 18 weeks to receive NHS treatments.

Similarly, the huge scale of house building required in the decades after World War II to combat squalor, led to some issues in the long term.

In cities such as Glasgow, new tower blocks were often built from cheap materials.

This meant that once people relocated from slums, escaped issues such as overcrowding, some of their new homes soon began to suffer from sanitation issues such as damp and mould, which led some people to develop health problems related to their lungs.

So, thinking about everything we've just heard.

At the start of 2025, how many people had been waiting for over 18 weeks to receive NHS treatments? Pause the video here and press play, when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was 3 million.

3 million people have been waiting for over 18 weeks to receive NHS treatments at the start of 2025.

And let's try another question.

This time we have a statement which reads, all treatments provided by the NHS are free.

But is that statement true or false? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So why is it that that original statement is incorrect? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said in 1951, charges were first introduced for some services for dentists and opticians as well as for prescriptions.

And let's try another question.

Why did some people's health continue to suffer after they were relocated from slums into new housing after World War II? Was it because the new homes rarely had clean or hot water? Because the new homes suffered from damper mould, or because the new homes were usually still overcrowded? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B.

For many people moved from slums after World War II.

They did benefit from getting access to clean and hot water and avoiding overcrowding.

But, many of these new homes, such as tower blocks in cities like Glasgow, suffered from issues like damper mould, which could create their own health problems for the people living there.

So, we are now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about the challenges facing the welfare state into practise.

How significant was the welfare state's impact on public health in modern Britain? I want you to explain your answer in two paragraphs.

You should consider both the strengths and limitations of the welfare state's impact as part of your answer.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So I asked you, how significant was the welfare state's impact on public health in modern Britain? And your answer may have included, the creation of a welfare state in Britain was significant because it helped to address major public health issues such as poor access to medical care.

For example, before the NHS was created in 1948, there were 8 million people who had never visited a doctor.

However, the NHS provided access to hospitals, doctors, opticians, and dentists free of charge.

This meant that many poor people who had previously been unable to access medical care due to fees could now receive treatment to support their health.

However, funding has been a major issue for the welfare state, including for the NHS.

For example, in 1951, charges were introduced for some medical services, and those have continued into the 21st century.

In 2023, one report suggested 10% of people with long-term conditions had skipped medication to avoid prescription charges.

This suggests that medical access has become more restricted since the NHS was first introduced.

Nevertheless, because the overwhelming majority of NHS services remain free to use, it is clear that access to medical services has still been improved by the welfare state, benefiting public health significantly.

So well done if your own response looks something like that model, which we've just seen.

Especially if you ensured that you considered both the strengths and limitations of the welfare state in the process, again to your judgement.

So, we've now reached the end of our lesson for today, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning about the welfare state and the NHS.

We've seen that the welfare state was established in the 1940s in Britain to provide support in areas such as housing and health.

World War II and the Beveridge report helped lead to widespread support for the creation of a welfare state.

The NHS improved access to medical care, especially by providing free treatments for patients.

But funding issues have led to some problems such as prescription charges and long waiting times in the NHS in the 21st century.

So, really well done for all of your efforts during today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you for our resources today, and I look forward to seeing you again in future as we continue to think about medicine in Britain and health and the people.