Statement in regard to the Minister of Health's White Paper on the establishment of "A National Health Service."
1944 1944 1940s 18 pages Their terms of service and conditions of work (pay; hou[ ] leave; study leave; training facilities; pensions and superannuation etc) will be constantly under review. There is also the growing danger of co-relating such terms, with those applicable to industrial undertakings,...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
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[1944]
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/8AA4D63E-8A79-4389-B9E5-2BD707CB87D4 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/15D4DDC0-DE75-4D1F-911B-128B90621DFF |
| Summary: | 1944
1944
1940s
18 pages
Their terms of service and conditions of work (pay; hou[ ] leave; study leave; training facilities; pensions and superannuation etc) will be constantly under review. There is also the growing danger of co-relating such terms, with those applicable to industrial undertakings, without having regard to the special nature of the duties and obligations of such workers. Fake organisations of ancient vintage will pretend to speak authoritatively for the Health Workers who will, if the powers in control can have their way, be deliberately kept unorganised. Strings will be perpetually pulled behind the scenes. This position should already be apparent by an examination of events leading to the preparation of the document. There is no evidence whatsoever that the organised Trade Unionist were consulted in any degree by the Minister of Health in the preparation of the document. Those who have been consulted do not represent the mass of Health Workers, whose experience spread over a number of years, should be recognised. The majority of organised Health Workers come into daily contact with the people who require the service. They know what they want. They hear their complaints and grievances, They knew the weaknesses of the present system. They are of the people. Because of this they are ignored. The Minister prefers the theories of the medical experts; the professional hospital administrators; the capable wire-pullers, in preference to the practical experience of the average Health Worker. Yet the report is supposed to implement the Government's determination to provide a free and untrammelled comprehensive Health Service for every citizen. The actual citizen is the last person to be consulted or thought of. His real need becomes subordinate to the demands of the upper hierarchy of the Health Services. Only vigilant trade unionism can provide the answer. We submit the Government would never have dared to skip over the principles of the Health Scheme as it will affect the non-medical workers if such an organisation as the Hospital and Welfare Union had a membership six times as large as it has today. Unwittingly the greatest disservice is being performed by and through the number of organisations who professedly cater for Health Workers, without any attempt to co-ordinate policy. In this direction the Trades Union Congress has failed, so far, to meet an immediate need. It has not called those Unions affiliated to Congress to give special consideration to the implications arising out of the White Paper as it may affect the thousands of Trade Unionists engaged in the Health Services of the Country. The demand now is for increased membership of the Hospitals and Welfare Services Union, with an aim for 100 per cent membership in every Hospital and Institution in the future. In this connection we must not be unmindful of the fact that there are thousands of Hospital and Health Service Workers, males and females, who today are fighting OUR battles elsewhere. We are the custodians of their future. They are looking to us to preserve their 'stake' in the future developments of these Services. In contrast to the foregoing situation the medical profession are not hampered by any restriction or anti-Trade Union pressure to join their professional organisations, such as the B.M.A. or the M.P.U. The B.M.A. is a powerful influental body, with some sectional associations, all grouped together. The M.P.U. is a smaller Trade Union. No Medical Authority or Voluntary Hospital board, or Medical Superintendent or Matron, dares to dissuade or deter any Junior Medical Officer from joining the B.M.A. Not so with the Nursing Staff and Ancillary Health Workers. It is a well known fact that many Matrons and Home Sisters act as unpaid voluntary organisers and propagandists for such bodies as the Royal College of Nurses, which are not real Trade Unions with a live paying membership, but snobbish, vocational organisations, relying on influence rather than democratic organisation to produce results. Professional dignity, so called, is thought more important than good condititions of work and remuneration. The notice Boards in the Nurses Home of many Hospitals are indicative of this favouritism. Great prominence is given to the doings of such undemocratic bodies, whilst trade unions, affiliated to the T.U. Congress, are denied publicity or display. Few Voluntary Hospital Boards have announced, as a definite fixed policy, the acceptance of Trade Unionism in their Hospitals, with the right of free association and organisation to all Institutional Workers. Many such Boards are bitterly anti-Trade Union, which attitude is reflected in the officials of the Board. It is not an uncommon thing for Hospital employees to be informed by a well paid Secretary that, in respect to a claim for adequate wage rates, he 'could obtain thousands of volunteers for thirty-shillings a week.' This position is reflected in the present day situation that, so far as the Voluntary Hospital Services are concerned, 2.
292/847/2/43 |
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |