A woman who shares her birthday with the NHS was guest of honour at Frimley Park Hospital today to meet a newborn baby and her mum who, by another coincidence, also has her birthday today.

Sue Carton, from Yateley, was born on 5 July 1948 at Winchester Hospital on the first day of the NHS. She joined in Frimley Health’s NHS75 celebrations and met tiny Amalie Ashall – born at 5.30am this morning, exactly 75 years later – and her mum Chelsy Ashall who is 29 today.

Since becoming one of the first ever babies born under the world’s first universal healthcare system available to all and free at the point of delivery, Sue has had cause to be thankful for the care that the NHS and Frimley Health have given to her and her family. Like many of us, the NHS has been a factor in significant moments in her life. In 1983 she had her daughter, Sarah Tombs (40), at Frimley Park and her grandchildren Aaron (19), Lillie (16) and Mylo (18 months) were delivered at the hospital several years later. And in 2013, teams from the hospital cared for her husband Mick in his final days.

Sue was delighted to have the chance to share her birthday with the NHS at Frimley Park. She said: “It’s nice to know that I’m still here and the NHS is still here after 75 years. It will be nice to celebrate our 100th birthday together in a few years too!”

Amalie, whose older brother Jaxon was born in the same hospital 15 months ago, was born at the delivery suite at Frimley Park at 5.35am today. Mum Chelsy said: “I’m really pleased to be sharing my birthday with my daughter and the NHS – it’s made this such a special day!”

Chelsy lives in Aldershot with Amalie’s dad, Callum Ashall. Both used to work at Frimley Park Hospital - Chelsy in radiology and Callum as a porter.

Staff across Frimley Health – which includes Frimley Park Hospital, Wexham Park Hospital and Heatherwood Hospital, along with services in Aldershot, Fleet, Farnham, Windsor, Maidenhead and across the community – marked the day with celebrations including NHS75 ‘Big Tea’ events, Bake Off competitions, the opening of an ‘NHS75 garden’ at Wexham Park and the unveiling of new outdoor artwork at Frimley Park, and ice cream van visits as a thank you for staff.

In addition, five award-winning members of staff were due to attend a special NHS75 service at Westminster Abbey. They were: Susan Chard, bereavement officer, chosen for the care and compassion shown to two bereaved families in the US; Alert Macabante, porter, for providing excellent care; Sophie Winter, bed manager, for caring for a woman in labour before she was able to get to the labour ward; Attinder Kaur, catering assistant, for her dedication to ensuring dementia patients get the nutrition they need, and Lucy Tebbit, clinical practice development nurse, for consistently offering outstanding support to her colleagues

Dr Gareth Roberts, Frimley Health’s chief of service for medicine, was also a guest at a special NHS75 reception at 10 Downing Street.

When it was founded in 1948, the NHS was the first universal health system to be available to all, free at the point of delivery. Today the NHS treats over a million people a day in England. Nine in 10 people agree that healthcare should be free of charge, more than four in five agree that care should be available to everyone, and that the NHS makes them most proud to be British.