On 5 July 2023 we celebrate 75 years of the National Health Service. When it was founded in 1948 , the NHS was the first universal health system to be available in the UK, free at the point of delivery. In 2021/22 there were an “estimated 570 million patient interactions with GP, community, hospital, mental health and ambulance services – 1.6 million contacts every day.” (From The NHS in a Nutshell, The Kings Fund)
To mark NHS 75, Live Music Now is offering our congratulations and thanks to the people who make this happen, celebrating our enduring and ever growing partnership with the NHS.
Live Music Now musicians have worked in NHS settings since 1977, alleviating anxiety, animating spaces, and meeting the health and wellbeing needs of people working in, visiting, and receiving treatment in health facilities.
We could not do this without the people of the National Health Services and here we share some of the stories of our work in England, Wales and Northern Ireland:
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Live Music Now musicians Seren Winds are delighted to open the NHS 75 celebrations Senedd Cymru / Welsh Parliament on 5/07/23. We have been working with NHS Cymru using music for health outcomes for over 30 years in Wales. Performance provided with thanks to Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru / Arts Council Wales. |
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Our two year programme at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool uses music to support children & young people’s mental health. Delivered by nine of our Live Music Now musicians, we have seen significant improvements in wellbeing & confidence. Funded by Youth Music. |
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“The music moved me, calmed me, uplifted me, grounded me, orientated me with my senses, colleagues and the wider world.” NHS Staff
Since 2018 Live Music Now has been contracted by North Bristol NHS Trust’s Fresh Arts programme to bring music to the wards of Bristol’s Southmead and Cossham’s hospitals for both patients and staff. |
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Last summer and autumn, Live Music Now NI worked in partnership with the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust to deliver a series of 30 concerts to older people attending day centres across Belfast marking thirty years of music-making in Northern Ireland for Live Music Now. #HSC75 |
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Live Music Now’s Lullaby Projects are delivered with NHS health and community partners to support maternal mental health, early childhood development and family wellbeing.
Our Lullaby Project in Toxteth, Liverpool, worked with families from the Sudanese community in partnership with Improving Me – the Cheshire and Merseyside NHS Women’s Health and Maternity Network |
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“B got upset when I was leaving—she said she doesn’t have any visitors and she is very afraid. I held her hand and she said that music makes her feel better.”
Singer songwriter Maz O’Connor has been musician-in-residence at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust working in Queen Elizabeth Hospital and University Hospital Lewisham. |
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We’ve been working partnership with South West Yorkshire NHS Foundation in care settings for older people, younger adults with learning disabilities and the forensic health services in Calderdale and Dewsbury. Here’s a great little video from one of our musicians Tom Hawthorn, who discovered the hidden drumming talents of one of the Calderdale residents! |
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“This has changed my life having you here, thank you.” Cystic Fibrosis Patient We’re proud to be working in partnership with Royal Brompton Hospital Chelsea providing weekly uplifting music to patients, staff and visitors. |
#NHS75 #CreativeHealth #NHSBirthday #SocialPrescribing #MusiciansInHospitals
