Westfield Health celebrates its centenary year

15th January 2019

2019 is a milestone year for Sheffield based health and wellbeing company, Westfield Health, as they celebrate their 100th birthday.

Founded on 3rd July 1919, Westfield Health was initially formed to support Sheffield's four hospitals: The Royal, The Royal Infirmary, The Children's and Jessops Hospital for Women, and it was originally known to most as The Sheffield Hospitals Council. In 1921 the 'Penny in the Pound' scheme, devised by Fred Osborn, a member of The Sheffield Hospitals Council was launched. For every pound of an employee's pay, a penny would contribute to the hospitals' finances in return for free hospital treatment, and their employers would contribute a third of any money raised. The scheme was an immediate success, raising more than half a million pounds for the hospitals in the first six years. However humble a person's earnings, their contributions guaranteed them treatment that they otherwise couldn't afford. The scheme was one of the largest and most successful in the country, and over the 27 years it ran, raised nearly five million pounds for the four hospitals. With an ever-present focus on the community around them, Westfield Health continued to support the hospitals in Sheffield throughout the Second World War. They funded two ambulances in 1942 which transported patients to the cities hospitals and to and from nursing homes in Sheffield. When the Blitz hit, the ambulances were put under extreme pressure and were pivotal to the city, carrying 309,997 patients to the nearest hospitals, travelling 1,523,665 miles. An ever-evolving business On the 5th July 1948 the NHS was born to make good healthcare available to all, regardless of a person's wealth. With the offer of free healthcare for all Westfield Health had to adapt their offering to continue to support their loyal members, providing recovery benefits and then, with the introduction of NHS charges for prescriptions, dental services and glasses, they paved the way in innovating the Health Cash Plan. With the good of the community a core value of Westfield Health, on 14th October 1965 they established the Sheffield and District Hospital's Services Charitable Fund, donating annual funds for the purchase and repair of equipment in local hospitals. Since 1965 they are proud to have donated over £14.5 million to local and national hospitals and charities that support people's health and wellbeing. A bright future Westfield Health have now been making a healthy difference to the quality of life of their customers and the communities in which they live and work since 1919. New and exciting partnerships with world leading organisations have allowed Westfield Health to continually push boundaries and grow as a company, and in 2018 they entered the corporate health and wellbeing market. Their future legacy will be built around enabling people to take a more proactive and preventative approach to their health and wellbeing. They aim to deliver evidence-based health and wellbeing solutions that support people, communities, and workplaces to be healthier. Having adapted to change and having constantly evolved to meet their customers' ever-changing needs, there is a lot to look forward to in the next 100 years of Westfield Health.