THE austerity-hit NHS is facing the biggest threat in its 75-year history with a gutted workforce and rampant privatisation leaving it on the brink, health unions and campaigners warned today.

The NHS, which was founded three-quarters of a century ago today on July 5 1948, needs “long-term sustainable funding and higher workforce pay so it can care for our families and communities for many years to come,” the TUC stressed.

And the Unite union called for its “dedicated staff to be valued and not undermined” as it accused Tory ministers of a “self-inflicted failure” by choosing not to give the health service the support it needs.