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Photos: 60 years of NHS tech
From hearing aids to pagers

By Tim Ferguson

Published: Wednesday 09 July 2008

The NHS celebrated its 60th birthday on 5 July. BT has been providing technology to the service since 1948 and has released some photographs showcasing its efforts.

What is now BT was part of the General Post Office when the NHS started in 1948. The first piece of tech to benefit the NHS was the Medresco (Medical Research Council) hearing aid which was an NHS staple well into the 1970s. By 1959 around 750,000 of the devices had been issued.

The hearing aids (above) used thermionic valves which were a miniaturised version of what was being used in the UK telephone exchanges at the time.

Photo credit: BT