The Health Services White Paper : The Labour Party's policy
1944-09 1944 1940s 22 pages - 17 - The Labour Party considers that, provided there is no weakening in the democratic control of the executive side of the National Health Service, it would be in accord with democratic tradition for some members of the Advisory Council to be directly elected by the...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
|---|---|
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
September 1944
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/896966EB-0985-4A70-B006-CA1FB3B8F3BC http://hdl.handle.net/10796/3F1D108B-69E6-455B-9B2F-DB972A60B994 |
| Summary: | 1944-09
1944
1940s
22 pages
- 17 - The Labour Party considers that, provided there is no weakening in the democratic control of the executive side of the National Health Service, it would be in accord with democratic tradition for some members of the Advisory Council to be directly elected by the professions concerned. (1) It considers that the reports of the Council should be presented annually by the Minister. This mode of publication would enable Parliament to keep in touch with the work of the Council; it would help to make sure that an inactive Minister did not neglect good advice; and it would safeguard Minister and public against partisan advice. The White Paper further proposes Local Health Services Advisory Councils for the areas of each joint health authority. Besides having similar rights to the Central Council, they will be free not only to transmit advice to the joint authorities, but also direct to the Minister. The joint authority will be required to consult the Local Council on the area health plan (and on any substantial modification to it) before submitting it to the Minister. The Labour Party can see no objection to professional election for Local Health Advisory Councils, nor to their having the right of publication, provided always that their function remains strictly advisory to the democratically elected authorities. 2. The Clinics. These have already been fully considered. (See page 6). 3. Home Nursing. The White Paper proposes that there shall be a full home nursing service available for all who need it without charge. The task of securing this is to be placed on the county and county borough councils, it remains to be discussed how far it shall be directly provided, and how far contracted out to voluntary nursing bodies. The Labour Party gives its full support to the proposal for a complete home nursing service. It suggests that it should be organised and administered by whatever authority is responsible for clinics and health centres, on which the service should be based functionally. 4. Dental and ophthalmic services. Full dental and ophthalmic services are proposed, the former to include regular conservative treatment (stopping etc.) But in both cases, the supply of specialist workers is far from sufficient to meet the needs of the country as a whole; so there may be a delay before complete services can be built up. Until then it is proposed that the dental service should concentrate on priority needs - children and young people, expectant and nursing mothers. The Labour Party suggests that the dental service should be based on health centres, with specialist dental care available. For a start, the ophthalmic service should work through hospitals, since it is essentially a specialist medical service. As soon as possible, however, arrangements should be made for the specialists to pay regular visits to health centres. (1) Such direct elections are already conducted in the case of the General Medical Council.
292/847/3/166 |
|---|---|
| Physical Description: | TEXT |