On 7th March 1876 Alexander Graham Bell picked up his telephone and issued the immortal words “Mr Watson come here I want to see you.” In doing so he changed the face of communications forever. What is perhaps remarkable is the speed with which this new invention took off. Within two short years Bell was demonstrating his phone system to Queen Victoria and two years after that the first UK phone book was published.
In the early days telephone callers had to be connected via switchboard operator. It was not until 1912 that the first automatic switchboard was introduced in the UK but the roll-out was slow and it was not until the early 1960s that the last manually operated switchboard was closed down. By then, either installed in our homes, offices or on street corners, the telephone had become a familiar staple of life.
Fast forward to today and the idea of a static phone in every home is slowly disappearing, as mobile phone coverage becomes more universal. At the same time, the roll out of fast fibre to the premises is accelerating, with Ofcom announcing on 16th March 2026 that 78% of homes now have full fibre connectivity. But however the telephone network is accessed, nothing can take away from the profound impact which Alexander Graham Bell’s invention has had on our lives.
This is particularly true in the field of healthcare where the phone rapidly became a lifeline for those in poor health. In the early days, the ability to phone for the doctor undoubtedly helped to save lives. And as phones became more universal, the idea of phoning to book health appointments or to ask for answers to simple health questions rapidly became an intrinsic element of health care.
Of course, nowadays telephone contact with health services has been supplemented by online services; perhaps enabling us to book appointments online or to send queries electronically to health providers. However, online services cannot provide solutions in every case. Knowing that we can still pick up the phone and ask for help is still a vital part of the patient/ healthcare contract.
So much so that the Government’s latest announcement on the neighbourhood health framework issued on 17th March 2026 acknowledges the part which phones have to play in delivering healthcare. The announcement includes the ambition to “organise services around the person with more convenient, personalised and joined-up care” including improving access to care “by phone, online, or in person.” Other planks of this revised health framework include the integration of services and making full use of digital opportunities. This move towards a more integrated and local service will help to deliver improved health and care outcomes, focusing on prevention and proactive care management across multiple care pathways.
When Alexander Graham Bell picked up his new telephone those one hundred and fifty years ago he may have been excited by the opportunities afforded by his invention. But he may well not have envisaged quite how transformative the phone would prove to be in so many aspects of our lives, livelihoods and healthcare.