Crisis and Scandal: Government,Local Government and Health Reform in Northern Ireland,1939–44

The history of public health in the United Kingdom is often based around local responses. Historians have noted that political and medical alliances effectively determined the character of public health provision. The importance of this can be measured by the fact that Northern Ireland had traditionally lagged far behind the rest of the United Kingdom in the years following devolution. However, between 1939 and 1944, this began to change and would result in a raft of reforms in health and social care which would culminate in the establishment of the National Health Service in Northern Ireland.