The People's Health
1932-07 1932 1930s 24 pages must be strictly limited and any tendency that there might be for panel practitioners to pass on their patients to assistants, must be curbed, as it is obvious that a frequently changing assistant cannot have the knowledge or inspire the trust of the family doctor. At the...
| Main Author: | |
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| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
London : The Labour Party
July 1932
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/E7EFA740-1A9D-413E-A2C6-C82EE3800758 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/5A97A86D-34E7-4E71-BF45-3FB9F8139968 |
| Summary: | 1932-07
1932
1930s
24 pages
must be strictly limited and any tendency that there might be for panel practitioners to pass on their patients to assistants, must be curbed, as it is obvious that a frequently changing assistant cannot have the knowledge or inspire the trust of the family doctor. At the same time it is essential that all practitioners should have time for holidays, recreation and study. The matter is easily put in order by an administrative decree that panel patients may only be seen by medical officers who are themselves members of the panel service and, therefore, directly employed by the Public Health Committee. Under these conditions it will be possible for practitioners to nominate as their substitutes, partners or fellow-practitioners, but not assistants. Advantage may now be taken of the sudden and vast increase of Insurance Act patients to induce panel practitioners to become full-time officers and as an inducement a considerable increase in the number of patients allowed may be granted to those who agree to do so. In urban areas, an extension of panel from say 2,000 to 3,000 might be permitted, and in rural areas these figures might be adjusted by the Ministry of Health to suit local needs. In some areas as many as 90 per cent. of the doctors would probably find it to their advantage to take this step. As soon as national finances make this possible it will now be a simple step to make the medical services organised as above entirely free to all persons who desire to take advantage of them. All that will be necessary will be to exact no further contribution from insurance funds for medical benefit. Persons desirous of making use of the State service will be asked to register and all registering will be encouraged to undergo without cost, a periodical medical examination. Those who register will have the opportunity of selecting any medical officer in the service whose panel is not yet complete. Those who do not register and only apply for medical assistance when taken ill, obviously cannot be given this privilege and a doctor whose panel is not yet complete will be allotted to them. The panel doctor will now correspond to the Home doctor as described in the complete scheme, and in the future no further part-time appointments as a general rule will be made in connection with this scheme. While these changes have been taking place, Municipal Health Centres will have been undergoing development ; in these the Home doctors will see their patients whenever possible and to these Centres the other clinical activities of the Public Medical Service will be transferred. The Local Authorities could be encouraged to build Health Centres by special grants from the Ministry of Health towards the erection of centres of approved design. 17
292C/155/1/1 |
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |