He hadn't set out to create a fastening system, but after noting how
firmly those little burrs attached to
fabric, he decided to create the material that we now know
by the brand name Velcro.
And it is a testimony to the extraordinary work done
by nurses, doctors and all NHS staff - backed up
by the extra investment which has seen the health budget treble to almost # 100 billion pounds a year - that ten years on the NHS is now more
firmly than ever part of the
fabric of British national life ----- an achievement that in itself should give us the confidence to look forward with ambition to an even greater future for the NHS.