This coming Sunday the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner will be joining the whole country to celebrate the 72^nd birthday of the National Health Service.

Police and Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings said: “The NHS is one of the great achievements of the post-war Labour government. The principle of being free at the point of need made it, literally, a life-saver for millions of people who would otherwise not be able to afford healthcare.

“It also engendered in the thousands who work for it and the thousands who use its services, the spirit of public service. This is the same spirit that infuses all our emergency services, not least the police.

“The coronanvirus has been devastating, but it has rekindled in all of us the recognition that public services are worth the taxes we pay and at times like this we depend so totally on them.

“We should all applaud the NHS on Sunday.”