The National Health Service, or NHS, still operates the vast majority of health services in Britain and is funded by the taxpayer.

The NHS in the 21st century faces 2 key problems:

• ❖ Waiting lists seem to be getting longer and health care professionals are often overworked.
• ❖ The NHS is expensive to fund. This is because modern drugs are costly and people are living longer than ever before.

The government often runs campaigns to try and improve public health and prevent people from needing expensive health care in the future. For example, Stoptober encourages people to stop smoking, while Change4Life is focused on improving diet and activity levels.