I recently visited Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the birth of the National Health Service.

For all of us, it’s not only a national service, it’s something deeply personal because we rely on it at times of great personal need for ourselves or for our families.

We should never forget that before we had a National Health Service ill health wasn’t just a health worry, it could also mean economic ruin for a family. So, I pay tribute to the founders of the NHS and to everyone who has supported it or cared for it since its foundation.

On its 70th birthday we should resolve, not just to support the service as it is but to make sure that it is funded properly for the future. In order to; make sure that it is always in a position to innovate and adapt, to become a service that’s as good at preventing ill health as it is at treating sickness, that treats mental health just as seriously as it does physical ill health.

It’s a time for great celebration on the 70th anniversary but it’s also a time to renew and resolve, to keep a health service that’s the envy of the world and to make sure that we fund it and resource it properly for the future.