The Health Services White Paper : The Labour Party's policy
1944-09 1944 1940s 22 pages - 14 - The voluntary hospitals are now attacking the plan on several counts. First, they say a universal free service will mean the end of their contributory schemes, before the war one of their main sources of income. This may be true, but they will be amply compensate...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
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September 1944
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/23C33ADA-07DB-4548-A1F2-4E6CE3252710 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/1F0F71F0-ADD9-4FA6-8DB2-0F364276CC16 |
| Summary: | 1944-09
1944
1940s
22 pages
- 14 - The voluntary hospitals are now attacking the plan on several counts. First, they say a universal free service will mean the end of their contributory schemes, before the war one of their main sources of income. This may be true, but they will be amply compensated for it if they come into the service. From the standpoint of efficiency and economy, the organisation of hundreds of voluntary contributory schemes is most wasteful; costs of collection are entirely disproportionate. Finally, since hospital planning will inevitably limit the freedom of choice of hospital by patients, those voluntary hospitals which stay out of the plan in part or wholly, will still be able to run contributory schemes if they can find a public who prefer to be guaranteed admission to the hospital of their choice. The second line of attack is the demand, made in various forms, that the voluntary hospitals should be directly represented on the joint authorities (or their counterparts). This demand is also made by some of the doctors' representatives. Neither demand can be admitted, for if it were, area planning might be done on a basis of something other than the general public interest. Further, it would then be open to nurses, pharmacists, social workers, physiotherapists, technicians, hospital administrators, etc, to claim representation, and with some justice. Provision is made in the White Paper for voluntary hospitals to make representations or objections to the Minister in connection with each area plan; this should be perfectly adequate to meet their legitimate needs. The Labour Party must reiterate that it can only accept the White Paper proposals for the voluntary hospitals provided no further concessions are made. The Labour Party must also stress the need for broadening the basis of the committees of management of the voluntary hospitals, by including representatives of the patients. The municipal hospitals. Before the war, the voluntary hospitals had some 77,000 beds. The municipal hospitals, on the other hand, had a far larger number:- Municipal general hospitals ... ... ... 70,000 beds Poor Law hospitals and institutions . ... 60,000 Infectious diseases hospitals .. ... ... 38,000 Tuberculosis sanatoria ... ... ... ... 20,000 (about) Mental hospitals ... ... ... ... ... 130,000 The municipal hospital services have been greatly handicapped by the fact that most of the buildings still date from the Poor Law days; furthermore, in many cases their medical administrative arrangements are also out of date. There are usually too few doctors for the numbers of patients; and too much authority is in the hands of a medical superintendent, who is responsible to the lay committee for all administration and nominally for every patient in the hospital, the enormous majority of whom he has never seen, let alone examined. Below him is a hierarchy of doctors, all of them rather poorly paid. As a result, the municipal hospital service has, with certain notable exceptions, tended to attract mainly those doctors who have failed to get on to the staffs of the voluntary hospitals. The Labour Party recognises the need for improving the medical organisation and administration of most of the municipal hospitals.
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |