National Health Service Bill
1946-04 1946 1940s 10 pages - 2 - GENERAL NOTES ON THE BILL TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP - [SECTION 6.] 6. Some of the principal effects of the proposed transfer of all hospitals, including the teaching hospitals, to the Minister are:- In all cases, their buildings and equipment, which they at present...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
April 1946
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/E8509337-CEF1-4090-9483-F16AF6797D8A http://hdl.handle.net/10796/03F23F15-2C59-44BE-A7D9-4AAB1F305E73 |
| Summary: | 1946-04
1946
1940s
10 pages
- 2 - GENERAL NOTES ON THE BILL TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP - [SECTION 6.] 6. Some of the principal effects of the proposed transfer of all hospitals, including the teaching hospitals, to the Minister are:- In all cases, their buildings and equipment, which they at present hold in trust, are confiscated. An elaborate machine is constructed for the dual purpose of administering the service as a whole and managing the individual hospital. Autocratically appointed bodies take the place of locally elected managing committees. Efficient control of the individual hospital is stultified by the ineffectual powers to be given to the new local committee. By the extinction of the voluntary hospitals, their continuing experience is lost. 7. It may be significant that Section 6(3) of the Bill enables the Minister, in certain circumstances to except a particular hospital from transfer, if the hospital concurs. ENDOWMENTS OF VOLUNTARY HOSPITALS - [SECTION 7] 8. While the buildings and equipment of all hospitals are to be confiscated, the voluntary hospitals are in varying degree to suffer confiscation also of the whole of their trust funds, described in the Bill as "endowments". 9. Thus in the case of teaching hospitals their existing endowments are to be transferred "free of trust" [Sec.7 (1) & (2)] to new Boards of Governors which will be appointed for them by the Minister [Sec.11(7)] and on which representation of the existing Trustees will be negligible (Third Schedule Part III). 10. In the case of all other hospitals the "endowments" are transferred to a central pool [Sec.7 (4)] from which existing debts and liabilities are paid off (in breach of trust) [Sec.7 (5) (b)]. The balance is to be divided into Regional pools [Sec.7(5)(c)] for use by the Regional Hospital Boards which the Minister appoints [Sec.11(1)]. CONFISCATION 11. The results of such confiscation are to discourage any further support by way of gifts or legacies for any aspect of the hospital service, including the provision of special buildings, the advancement of medical research, and the provision of additional amenities for the patients and staff not provided under the State scheme. The power of Regional Boards and the Boards of Governors of teaching hospitals to seek to attract gifts or legacies for special purposes [Sec.59 (1)] is self evidently specious. This view is confirmed by reference to the Financial Memorandum to the Bill (Para. 4). 12. Consequently the whole cost of the hospital service will be defrayed by the exchequer and the extent and quality of the service will therefore be determined by considerations of cost instead of considerations of need.
292/847/4/19 |
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |