The Future of Voluntary Hospital Contributory Schemes - The point of view of the wage earning community / by H. H. Elvin
1938-12-14 1938 1930s 7 pages Voluntary Hospital Contributory Schemes, WAGE EARNING COMMUNITY'S VIEW 3. Through its special Joint Committee it is collaborating with the British Medical Association, a co-operation which we hope will have a far-reaching effect, especially in the direction o...
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| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
| Language: | English English |
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14 December 1938
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/6BA876A7-44BF-4240-BCB9-5DB979A5CB9C http://hdl.handle.net/10796/5489149E-C7C4-452B-975E-D320243E4379 |
| Summary: | 1938-12-14
1938
1930s
7 pages
Voluntary Hospital Contributory Schemes, WAGE EARNING COMMUNITY'S VIEW 3. Through its special Joint Committee it is collaborating with the British Medical Association, a co-operation which we hope will have a far-reaching effect, especially in the direction of preventive treatment, because I believe that "prevention is better than cure". I have been examining the literature of the work of your Association supplied to me. I was immediately struck with the fact that the definite aims and purposes for which you stand have only been advocated by Voluntary Hospitals for about 50 years; and yet, as far as the Christian era is concerned, the first Hospital in Europe was finished in A.D.380, or nearly 1600 years ago. However, I am not going to allow my imagination to run riot as to what was the position in our Hospitals between A.D.380 and 1880, but simply to note that the spirit of reform took shape a half-century ago. I read the eight points described with interest, and wondered whether, like Trade Unions, Voluntary Hospitals have been adversely criticised. It is true what when I noted the alleged virtues of the Voluntary Hospitals system as against the alleged defects of State Institutions, I was nearly led astray to enter into an apology for the latter; but I restrained myself with the thought that as far as your Charter was concerned, it was very much like the request of a Trade Union upon an employer of labour, viz., that behind the material demand there was an ethical purpose. It is true also that like the principles of the International Labour Organisation which seeks to secure world peace by the abolition of economic and social injustice - which are not realised because of the wickedness of man - you have accomplished something, and if you go on with your objectives, you will, in course of time, almost realise the perfect Hospital, when all men will call you blessed. I was impressed with the definition of the Hospital Schemes Association which reads: "A co-operative and voluntary association of wage earners who have joined together in the spirit of mutual helpfulness". This is an assertion of the eternal principle that by helping others you help yourself, which is in marked contrast to the policy of "every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost". But despite the delightful description, there seems to be a gap. "Wage earners" is restrictive. I am not speaking of the immorality of the term as it savours of class distinction, but legally there are two classes of earners: (1) those whose rate of remuneration is determined by the day, i.e. a wage-earner, and (2) those whose payment is determined by the week, the month or the year, i.e., the salary earner. I gather from practice that the benefits of the Association Scheme are not restricted actually to "wage earners", with the exception of those who may be earning more than £6. per week whether they be wage earners or salary receivers. Is not this distinction wrong?
292/842/2/220 |
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |