Topic overview
What you need to know
Health and medicine changed through scientific discovery, technology, government action, war, communication and individual work, although progress was uneven.
Exam tip
Across periods, compare the rate and scale of change and weigh factors rather than listing discoveries chronologically.
Core knowledge
Key facts for Britain: Health and the People
Four Humours
The ancient theory that illness resulted from an imbalance of blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile.
Germ theory
Pasteur's explanation that microorganisms cause decay and disease, developed in the nineteenth century.
Vaccination
Using a safe form or component of a pathogen to stimulate immunity against disease.
Antiseptic surgery
Lister's use of carbolic acid to kill microbes and reduce infection during surgery.
Public Health Act 1875
A law requiring local authorities to improve sanitation, water supply and public health provision.
NHS
The National Health Service, created in 1948 to provide healthcare funded through taxation and free at the point of use.
Finished learning?
Mark the notes complete, then test what you can recall.