On 5th July people from all walks of life united in their appreciation of our National Health Service, as it celebrated its 75th birthday. For our #OnlytheNHS campaign, we asked people to share their thoughts about what makes the NHS so special.

And your replies came flooding in! We were blown away by your photos, the expressions of love and support, and your generosity in sharing so many stories showing how the NHS has been there for us through the years. To everyone who contributed, our heartfelt thanks. 

The message you sent is loud and clear: only the NHS looks after us, whoever we are, whatever our need. Only the NHS responds in an emergency, and takes care of us at A&E. Only the NHS trains doctors and nurses. Too much money has been wasted on services provided by the private sector which have simply failed to deliver, time and again. As we approach the next general election, politicians must commit to funding our NHS properly and making it work for patients, not profit. 

You can see just a small sample of the messages we received by clicking anywhere on the pile of photos below.