TIMELINE: Britain's National Health Service

(Reuters) - The government published a draft constitution for the National Health Service in England earlier this week, ahead of the 60th anniversary of the creation of Britain's NHS on Saturday.

Here is a chronology of the NHS:

1948 - The NHS was established by the post-war Labor government on July 5 out of a long-held ideal that good health care should be available to all, regardless of wealth.

1952 - Prescription charges are introduced of one shilling (five pence). A flat rate of a pound for ordinary dental treatment is also brought in.

1954 - A smoking-cancer link is established.

1961 - The contraceptive pill is made widely available and is hailed as a 20th century breakthrough. Between 1962 and 1969, the number of women taking the Pill will rise dramatically, from approximately 50,000 to 1 million.

1967 - The Abortion Act is introduced and passed on a free vote, becoming law on April 27, 1968.

-- This new act makes abortion legal up to 28 weeks if carried out by a registered physician and if two other doctors agree that the termination is in the best interests of the woman. In 1990, the time limit is lowered to 24 weeks.

1968 - A 45-year-old man becomes the first Briton to have a heart transplant. Surgeon Donald Ross carries out the operation at the National Heart Hospital in Marylebone, London.

1972 - Computer tomography scans (CT scans) start to revolutionize the way doctors examine the body.

1980 - The Black Report is published. Commissioned in 1977, the report aimed to investigate the inequalities of health care.

1990 - Internal market is introduced, with the publication of the NHS and Community Act. Health authorities now have to manage their own budgets.

-- They will have to buy health care from hospitals and other health organizations. In order to be deemed a "provider" of such health care, organizations will become NHS Trusts, that is, independent organizations with their own managements. Fifty-seven NHS trusts are established in 1991 to make the service more responsive to the user at a local level.

1998 - NHS direct, a nurse-led advice service providing people with 24-hour health advice over the phone, is launched. This service handles more than half a million calls each month.

2002 - Primary care trusts are set up to improve the administration and delivery of health care at a local level.

-- The primary care trusts oversee 29,000 GPs and 21,000 NHS dentists.