LANCET'S COMMENT

Chronicle (Levin), 25 March 1946, Page 7

LANCET'S COMMENT

Press Assn.-

NATIONAL HEALTH BILL — / OPPORTUNITIES FOR DOCTORS

Bv Telearavh

Covvriaht

iteceived. bunday, 8.50 p.m. LONDON, March 24. The Lancet, journal of the British Meaicai Association, referring to the National Health Bili, says: "It is easy' to be too "niuch afraid. We should ask ourselves whether, with ali its risks, the concempiated service does not give us great opportunities. It is a great end — that wnatever person can benefit from medical knowledge and skill shali nave it without hindrance. The. means now proposed to tnat end may need modiiication, but they do not cail ioi wholesale condemnation or irreconcil abie opposition. The Bill is not the Sociaasc doctrinaire proposai that seemed inevitable." Dr. Stephen Taylor, M.P., who was director of the Ministry of Information's wartime social survey, in an articie in the Daily Herald, ciaims that the doctors' "crusade" has already coltapsed. "Even the B.M.A. can only quihbie about details, though for a month it has ! oeen preparmg tiie medical profession to fight the socialisation of medicine to tlie last ditch, ' ' fie says. ' ' There arc two reasons why the campaign is fizzling out. Firstly, it is largely bluff; secondly, Mr. Aneurin Bevan (the Minister ox nealth) met every reasonable cbjection which the doctors raised." Dr. rl. Guy Dam, chairman of the Britisli Medical Association Council, addressing a Press coniefence, declared: | "jjoccors are afraid tnat the officials' ldea of a good doctor will be that he is one wlio gives the least trouble — the ittan who aiv/ays plays safe, who always ! passes the bucjx and who should not be j auowed to fight for his patients' irghts | 111 any ciaim aga.nst the State. " The Press Association says Dr. Dam • I was givmg the consiaered judgment oi I the -tii'itiSii Medical Association, reachI ed ' aiter placxng the Government's I j ueaitn prop-.sais on tne operating tabie j and dissectmg tiiem. Dr. Dam reitcrated that the medical j proiession was anxious and wilang to coocerate in evolvmg a compiete health { service, but it was opposed, on the ! grounds of public interest, to certain j unportant features oi the new propos"als. The "family doctor" proposais meant a whoie-time saiaried -service under the control of the State sooner or later. A paiieiit would suffer from this j control mueh or even more than the doc- 1 ior. Inevitaoly, there would he an urge j on the State 's part to cut short all sick- ! ness, both to save fund3 'and to get the 1 nien back to work. Tliis urge must be I translated into pressure 011 doctors. I There would be both the motive for • j pressure and t.he nicans of exercising it. A doctor, being paid largely oy salary, would prcgress in his proTesslon only by official approval. Government su^port'ers are extreniely enthusiastic about the National Health 1 Service Bill, says the.. Pi'ess Association 's Parliamentary correspondent. j The Conservatives, on the other iiand, ni'e increasihgly rritical and- will bring down dozens of amendn.ents. I Their main objections are: • i (1) Thc plan wili not operate until ; 1948. ! (2) Members dislike the taking over | of endowments. ' ) (3) Control by the regional board is 1 too rcmote. j (4) It is doubtful whether the health centres wnl be popular with the people. (5) The stopping of the selling oi practices is a mistake. (6) The State is paymg £66,000,000 compensation for nothing. (7) The leading Labountes in the past opposed the taking over of the hospitals. Copies of the White Paper prepared by the Minister of Health have been sent to afl of Britain's 56,000 doctors, accompanied by forms asking how niuch i each doctor will contribute to a fighting : fund. The B.M.A. leaders have given an assurance that, whatever happens, there will be 110 doctors' strike, The Ministry of Health stated that the Bill did not affect the General Medical Council 's disciplinary powers. A practitioner who was struck off the roll automatically hecame ineligible for State service.