The National Health Service
1948 1948 1940s 38 pages Thus the Minister of Health, with the Government behind him and Parliament in ultimate control, becomes the nation's trustee for the hospital service, the cost of which will be paid from taxation. He is therefore given the duty of meeting 'all reasonable re...
| Main Author: | |
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| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
London : His Majesty's Stationery Office
1948
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/69D21999-ADF3-4B00-9054-6FBF4DA482B0 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/88FCB224-9DD7-4720-9BDB-F11C3DD62803 |
| Summary: | 1948
1948
1940s
38 pages
Thus the Minister of Health, with the Government behind him and Parliament in ultimate control, becomes the nation's trustee for the hospital service, the cost of which will be paid from taxation. He is therefore given the duty of meeting 'all reasonable requirements' for hospital services, including 'the services of specialists, whether at a hospital, a health centre ... or a clinic or, if necessary on medical grounds, at the home of the patient'. The Regional Boards The Minister has made the regional boards responsible for carrying out most of these duties. The boards are made up of public-spirited men and women who serve without pay and have been chosen by the Minister for their personal qualities and their experience of the health services. The largest board, the Welsh board, has 32 members : the smallest, one of the four London boards, has 22. Their chairmen have all distinguished themselves in serving the public — three as chairmen of well-known voluntary hospitals, six (among them a doctor and an M.P.) as chairmen of health or hospital committees of leading local authorities. The remaining five include the Vice-Chancellor of a university. Board members cannot be removed during their term of office unless their fellow-members ask the Minister to remove them. In each region they have been appointed on the recommendation of the university, the doctors' organisations, and the Local Health Authorities, all of whom the Minister must consult ; and also at the suggestion of other professional societies, hospital associations, trade unions, employers' organisations and other interested bodies. Apart from their chairmen, the 364 members of the 14 boards include upwards of 120 doctors, of whom 40 are university professors and teachers of medicine, dentistry and kindred subjects, 60 specialists (many of whom teach in the hospitals), and 20 family doctors. The other professions are represented by a score of men and women, including 10 hospital matrons and two dentists in general practice. The non-professional members include others drawn from the universities (including several vice-chancellors), councillors or officers drawn from local authorities, and members of the governing bodies or officers of former voluntary hospitals. The boards do the work of regional planning, and take the big decisions that affect the co-ordination of hospitals in their regions. They appoint the management committees which do the daily work of running the hospitals. Hospital Groups and Hospital Management Most hospitals, with clinics and convalescent homes, have been linked together by the boards into local groups, each of which can meet 11
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |