The organisation of the preventative and curative medical services and hospital and laboratory systems under a Ministry of Health
1919 1919 1910s 18 pages AMENDMENT OF THE NATIONAL INSURANCE ACT. The medical section of the National Insurance Act suffers from complexity and enormous cost of administration, inadequacy of the facilities for advice and treatment, and the incompatibility of any public medical service free and open...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
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London : Co-operative Printing Society
[1919?]
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/22ACAD60-9DCD-4D90-9384-2B767D618ECD http://hdl.handle.net/10796/45BDB0EC-DD62-47D1-9048-646DC6879995 |
| Summary: | 1919
1919
1910s
18 pages
AMENDMENT OF THE NATIONAL INSURANCE ACT. The medical section of the National Insurance Act suffers from complexity and enormous cost of administration, inadequacy of the facilities for advice and treatment, and the incompatibility of any public medical service free and open to all with insurance for medical aid by one section only of the community. It should, therefore, be repealed and additional powers given to local health authorities, through the Ministry of Health, to enable them to organise a general scheme for the provision of medical services to the whole community. The first steps in this direction are suggested in Part II. under the heading "The Transition Stage". FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE SERVICE. The cost of the health services should be a charge upon communal funds, but seeing that the health of the nation is quite as much of national as of local concern, the Ministry of Health should make very substantial grants in aid to the local authorities. Special help should be given to large industrial areas where the population is large, the hygienic conditions bad, and the rateable value low. As the health service gets into working order and the preventive, clinical, and institutional arrangements become efficiently organised, the necessary expenditure on health will fall, and what is more important, the average period of disability of all workers through illness will decrease. This would be a national asset, and would soon mean an increased production of wealth, more than counterbalancing the whole cost of the health services. A STATE MEDICAL SERVICE SHOULD BE FREE AND OPEN TO ALL Because: — 1. Disease is no respecter of persons, and science in dealing with its prevention and cure cannot afford to be so. 2. Health is of national concern, and disease is a national danger, hence the health of every individual, rich or poor, is of national importance, and its preservation should be undertaken by the nation collectively. 3. Any service limited to the poor is bound to be inefficient and unpopular, e.g., the Poor Law service. 4. Modern methods of diagnosis and treatment are becoming so elaborate and costly that only the rich can afford to purchase their advantages. 5. The importance of institutional treatment is becoming more and more recognised, and under present conditions most of the middle classes are excluded from its benefits. They cannot afford nursing homes, and they are not eligible for the voluntary hospitals. 6. The medical service should be in a position to treat disease in its earliest possible stages, to preserve health, and to watch over contacts in cases of infectious diseases, all of which are impossible under any system of private practice in which the doctor has to await the call of the patient, who may be far advanced in illness and possibly a danger to others before he thinks fit to send for help. Many a patient has lost his life through trying to save a doctor's bill. 7. Under the system of private practice an enormous amount of ill-health and physical defects have remained undetected, and therefore not prevented, as shown by the results of medical inspection of school children (vide Sir George Newman's reports), and by the medical examination and classification of recruits for the Army. 6
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |