Towards a municipal medical service

1924-10-02 1924 1920s 2 pages WEEKLY NOTES FOR SPEAKERS No. 276. October 2nd, 1924 For Private Circulation Only. Independent Labour Party Information Committee, 14, Great George Street, Westminster, S.W.1. MUNICIPAL ELECTION NOTE No. 1 TOWARDS A MUNICIPAL MEDICAL SERVICE "Our hospit...

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Institution:MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
Language:English
English
Published: 2 October 1924
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Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10796/D330E9F4-541C-4E38-93F3-5CE2C29A14F5
http://hdl.handle.net/10796/E64707FF-0EFD-4150-931F-68D7BA3B91A6
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Summary:1924-10-02 1924 1920s 2 pages WEEKLY NOTES FOR SPEAKERS No. 276. October 2nd, 1924 For Private Circulation Only. Independent Labour Party Information Committee, 14, Great George Street, Westminster, S.W.1. MUNICIPAL ELECTION NOTE No. 1 TOWARDS A MUNICIPAL MEDICAL SERVICE "Our hospital system — if such a chaos as now exists can be dignified by such a title — has been and still remains a symptom of our inadequate civic organisation.” - The Prime Minister. British Medical Journal [ ]24 (1) Existing Services. Municipal medical services have already assumed an important part in cure of disease — prevention of disease (being “unprofitable”) has always been left almost entirely to them. Already 75 per cent. of the hospital accommodation of the country is rate-aided. For tuberculosis treatment 12,524 beds are provided by local authorities as against 7,591 in voluntary institutions. Other Municipal Medical Services are ante-natal, infant, child and school clinics: hospitals for infectious diseases, etc. Note that Municipal work passes unnoticed because it is done quietly as a matter of duty. ibid Dr. J J. Buchan Ministry of Health Report Cmd. 2218 (2) Failure of Voluntary System. The special conference on hospitals called by the Labour Party on 28th and 29th April, 1924, consisting of representatives of the hospitals, friendly societies, British Medical Association, etc., found that— “The accommodation, equipment and finance of hospitals generally, are inadequate and must be supplemented.” Voluntary system liable to serious breakdown and sometimes life is sacrificed in consequence. Quote evidence at the inquest on Terence Keily, aged two:— “The mother said that the child underwent an operation at the hospital (Gt. Ormond Street Children’s Hospital) on Wednesday for adenoids. Although there was every indication of bleeding continuing, he was not detained and she had to take him home. The child’s condition became so bad that she took him the same evening to the Poplar Hospital where he died on Thursday. Times 23-8-24 “The Coroner said that the operation took place at one of the best hospitals in London. The fatal result was a very rare accident. At that hospital they had, he supposed, operations of the same kind by the hundred, but lacked beds. “Mr. Keily (the father). ‘And the child’s life was sacrificed for want of room. . . . This case shows that children’s lives are lost just for want of being kept at a hospital for one night.’ “Dr. Brown said they had to send a dozen or 15 cases away daily.” QUOTE also case of Mrs. Drew, sent in a taxi from St. Mary’s Hospital to Paddington Infirmary, where she died, when one of her lungs was solid with pneumonia. Star 17-9-24 “Dr. Ursula Eva, casualty house surgeon at the hospital, said that in her opinion Mrs. Drew was not fit to be moved. Recording a verdict of death from natural causes, Mr. Purchase said that 292/840/1/1
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