Celebrations are being held across Kent to mark the 70th anniversary of the National Health Service.

Since its launch in 1948, it has transformed the lives of patients across the UK, with the ambitious plan to provide quality healthcare for all.

Today, Big 7Tea parties will raise money for hospital charities, and people are being encouraged to surprise current or former NHS employees with random acts of kindness.

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Schools in Maidstone have been creating their own NHS-themed artwork, and part of Canterbury Cathedral will be lit up blue tonight, with bells ringing out across the city after Evensong.

Local historian John Weeks, 45, from North Kent, has worked for the NHS for 28 years, and made it his mission to explore the turbulent past of the hospitals he visits every day.

As head of emergency planning and development for the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, he trains staff on what to do in the event of a crisis.

His book, Bandages and Benevolence, takes an in-depth look into how the health service has changed, not just in Tunbridge Wells, but across the UK.

When the NHS was formed, it was not the efficient organisation it is today, and many of the buildings it took over had been seriously damaged during the war.

The Tunbridge Wells Hospital Management Committee, for example, inherited four fully-staffed isolation hospitals, one of which had failed to see a patient in more than four years.

There was a huge amount of opposition when the service was launched - doctors felt the government may tell them how to do their jobs, and many MPs were totally opposed to the scheme.

Today, services are combined within larger, specialist sites and medical advancements mean shorter stays and fewer complications.

A number of Maidstone's former hospitals, including West Kent General, Kent County Ophthalmic Hospital, Preston Hall and Fant Lane, were all separate until services gradually moved to the Maidstone Hospital site in 2013.

Similarly, a £60 million development in 1999 saw Medway Maritime Hospital double in size after the work of neighbouring hospitals was transferred there.

The way the NHS approaches mental health has also changed, with the closure of Kent's mental asylums and a greater focus on community care.

Oakwood Hospital in Barming Heath, near Maidstone, was one of those shut during the 90s, alongside Leybourne Grange in West Malling and Darenth Park Hospital near Dartford.

Some people believe the word "barmy", often used to describe a mad or eccentric person, came into usage due to the location of the hospital, however, the Oxford Dictionary disputes this.

Bandages and Benevolence also looks at how local health services operated before the NHS, and the major events and medical breakthroughs that have shaped care here ever since.

From major fires, lack of funds, nursing shortages, royal visits and haunted wards, it shows how Kent's NHS staff have delivered care over the past 70 years, sometimes in extremely challenging circumstances.

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John said: "It's the staff, patients and volunteers that make a hospital, and I have had the enormous pleasure to chat to so many people who have spent time sharing their memories.

"What became obvious is the tremendous affection that our hospitals are held in throughout the community we serve.

"In Tunbridge Wells we have a tremendous heritage that we should all value and be proud of, alongside a new hospital to be proud of too.

"I would like to pay tribute to all those who have helped in telling their story, because their story is our story too."

Bandages and Benevolence is available to buy at the restaurant at Tunbridge Wells Hospital, Pembury.

All proceeds will be donated to the Tunbridge Wells League of Friends, which raises money to support the hospital.