70 Years of Healthcare Science fit for a Queen!
By Prof Brendan G Cooper, AHCS President and Consultant Clinical Scientist
As we celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, it gives us a moment reflect on how healthcare science has changed in those 70 years.
Naturally, the greatest obvious development has been the change from analogue to digital data recording and analysis and arguably the birth of bioinformatics around that. However, Table 1 (Source: Wikipedia, May, 2022) shows some pivotal (or just interesting) events from the last 70 years relevant to our current practices as healthcare scientists. Many of these steps only happened because of the amazing science and scientists in the background testing the theory and practice.
Also during the last 70 years, healthcare scientists have evolved themselves. In 2011 the Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS) was established to act as an overarching professional organisation to represent all healthcare science profession collectively, by becoming greater than the sum of its parts and representing all our professions.
Since 1952 there has been a large increase in professional bodies to mirror the huge development in technology and scientific disciplines as the NHS and healthcare generally has expanded.
It is very likely that the next 70 years will see even more “new sciences” and professions emerging in healthcare.
We have an enormous legacy created in the last 70 years which the Queen has overseen. Many of our scientists from all backgrounds have been honoured by the Queen with MBEs, OBEs and knighthoods/damehoods, but this only touches the surface of the amazing scientific contribution we have all made to our professions and patients since 1952.
We congratulate Her Majesty on her achievements and for witnessing and recognising so many of ours.
