FEIENDLY SOCIETIES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2674, 21 January 1916, Page 4

FEIENDLY SOCIETIES

AND THE MEDICAL MEN

POSITION REVIEWED. BY THE SECRETARY

The following review of tho position between the Wellington Friendly Socieand the local medical men is supplied by the secretary of tho Wellington, ton I'riendly Societies. Mr. C. G G. Kelly

XSeforo dealing with tho question of the dispute between tho Friendly Societies of Wellington and the lodge doctors, it will be necessary to outline the conditions "under which the lodges and doctors have been working. Members of friendly societies contribute from Is. to Is. 6d. or a little more per week, according to age, for all benefits, which means an annual payment varying from £2 12s. to £3 10s. per annum. ' Out of this sum 15s. is paid to the doctor and 6s. to tho dispensary, leaving the balance to provide for the payment of sick benefits, funeral benefits, and management expenses. Each quarter the doctor is provided with a list of financial members, and lie is paid for all the members on this list, whether they are sick or not. For instance, a doctor who had 100 members on his list would receive £18 los. for the quarter, making an annual payment of £75. Doctors were only required to attend members and their families in their own homes when the sick were physically incapable to attend the consulting rooms. Doctors did not provide medicine, only advice and attendance. All operations and accouchments were "charged for by the doctors to friendly- society members as private'patients. Under the system in vogue prior to the dispute there was no limit to the number of doctors that friendly societies could engage, and herein lies the root of tho trouble.

Every doctor commencing practice in Wellington generally applies to the friendly societies for engagement as lodge doctor With the result that the majority of doctors practising were also lodge doctors. The combined lodges of Wellington paid something like £4000 per annum' to the lodge doctors, and the more doctors, of course, who participated the less the dividend for each, whereas, if tho work was ■ confined to four, five, or six doctors, quite a large salary would be earned by each.

In August last the doctors handed in CtieTr resignations, giving the requisite three months' notice. Tbey then called the representatives of the friendly societies together, and handed them a fresh agreement, which they wished to work under. The principal clause of this new agreement being, of course, the increased remuneration. Under this clause .thoy demanded tho sum of £1 4s. per. member per annum. They also inserted other clauses most irritating. to society members, the principal one being a fee of ss. per visit for any call made after 8 p.m. and before 8 a.m. , The friendly societies/duly considered ihe new agreement, and appointed delegates to attend a conference for tho. purpose of dealing with the question. This conference considered evetj- clauso and amended them where the.members considered necessary. They carefully considered the finances of their societies, and found it impossible to pay tho increased remuneration without passing it on to the members.

An -amended agreement which conceded of the minor demands made, but ,leavihg;..remuneration at : 15s. per annum, was submitted -to the doctors, and another conference took placo )>ntween them and representatives of tlia conference. This conferenco lasted several hours, and all points wero fully discussed. The difficulties of the friendly societios were placed before ihe doctors, and they seemed impressed hy what the members placed before them. During the course of tbfe conference they were asked whether th"ey would consider an increase from los. to 18s., this, and all other points raised, the doctors intimated, would receive their careful consideration, and the result of their deliberations would be submitted to the conference. Tlie doctors were ' asked whether the dispute was to be considered, as one between the British Medical Association and the lodges, and they replied emphatically no. They informed tho conference that it was only a matter between the lodge doctors aad the lodges. Iney also intimated that tlie demand of 245. was only of a temporary nature: that after the war they wanted £1 10s. at least, and considered that they wero under-paid even at that rate; in fact; they hinted that £2 4s. would be little enough for the work performed/ After an elapse of a fortnight the doctors replied through their secretary that they would not accept any sum less than £1 4s.

The conference of the Friendly Societies again met to consider their position, and taking into consideration tho attitude of the .doctors at the conference, that even if they signed an agreement at 245. rate it would' only he a patched up affair, and before very long the doctors would again make demands. They also considered that under the present system they would never be satished with the remuneration. The .system, they decided, must be changed l , and that now was tho opportune time to do it. The doctors were therefore written to and informed that in view of their reply negotiations were considered ended.

The next move was by the British Medical Association, who inserted the following advertisement in the New Zealand papers, and also sent a printed circular to doctors, warning them from accepting appointments with, the Wellington Friendly Societies. ' "WARNING NOTICE.' , "Medical practitioners are hereby warned against entering into contract with the Wellington Friendly Societies without first having communicated with the secretary of the Wellington Division of the British Medical Association." On this notice appearing in the papers the following was sent to the secretary of the Wellington Division of the British Medical Association:— "111 reference to your notice in the Wellington papers, warning _ medical practitioners against entering, into any agreement with the Wellington Friendly Societies, I jwould be pleased to know what action the British Medical Association is proposing to take in this matter, as wo were given to understand by tho doctors concerned that the disagreement was only between themselves individually and "the Friendly Societies of Wellington." The following reply was received from tho secretary of the Wellington Division of the British Medical Association:—

"In reply to your communication of December 13, I have to state that when negotiations between tho lodge doctors and Friendly Societies reached a deadlock, a special meeting of tlio Medical Association was called, and it was then unanimously deckled to.support tlie doctors. The matter therefore becajne an association question and instructions were givon by the association to insert the publication referred to an; d about other matters." To which we replied:— "With referenco. to the attitude taken by tho Wellington Division of the "British Meidcal Association in respect of tho circumstances causing the medical men engaged in Friendly. Societies' work in this City to hand in their resignations, and our recent correspondence in connection therewith, 1 have been directed bv the conference of Friendly Societies' de"Jegates to oxurosa our lumriso at the ac.

tion taken, by your association in instituting a boycott without first inquiring from us the conditions the societies proposo to engage their medical officers."

So far, 110 reply has been received to above letter.

The combined Friendly Societies are prepared to engage five or six doctors for their work, and to pay them at the rate qt £500 per annum, with the right to private practice, i.e., operates and accouchments for members at a scale ofcharges arranged, and also to general public at fees, arrauged by tlieirv,elves. It is contended that this salary is quits adequate; and that the societies are meeting the doctors in a fair and just spirit, and paying a much higher salary' than what is paid to many doctors in the Dominion at the present time employed by tho Government and hospitals. It is also contended that under the old system the service was at times un6at< isfactory, many of the members complaining that when they visit the consulting rooms the.v are treated more as charitable aid patients than members of societies paying for services rendered, and made to feel their position rather keenly. This position has caused more oxits from tlio societies than from any other cause. By having their own medical officers, this trouble would be overcome, as the care and attention of friendly Society members v-ould be the first consideration. Another matter that the societies consider as most inconsistent on tho part of the doctors is tho fact that they, after informing the combined Friendly Societies that they would accept nothing less than 24s have agreed to attend three lodges, which withdrew from the conference lor the sum of £1' Is. per annum. It is understood, howover, that this agreement is causing some dissension amongst the ranks of the doctors, as the lodges' m question reduced the medical attendants by four, so as to give the remainder a fair salary. This principle the doctors oppose, as they do not want the lodge work confined to a few, but want it distributed amongst those carina to take up Friendly Society work, thus, of course, reducing the salaries considerably.

Tile experienco of tho Friendly Society men m this City -was that tiiero waa no difficulty at all in securing doctors Quder t'li© old system, and any doctor commencing practice first applied for appointment, being quite content with the fee offered, as it was not only a meana of obtaining a stipulated sum, but also brought him private practice. Friendly Societies did not have to advertise for doctors,' as there were always doctors applying to be appointed. The Friendly Societies contend t'hat the remuneration paid is quite adequate, but the whole trouble is that too many doctors are engaged on the work. Thoy contend that under their new proposal tliey are dealing fairly with (he medical picn. They are-offering liberal salaries and conditions for their own medical officers, and therefore cannot understand the boycott. The societies are now advertising for their own medical officers, and trust to bo able to make their appointments shortly. In the meantime all the societies, except a fowof the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows, have decided to pool their medical pence, and arrangements have been made whereby, every care and attention will be given to'our members until such time as we appoint our own medical officers a-nd form a United Friendly Societies' Medical Institute.

In this issue we are calling for applications from medical men at a salary ol £500 per annum, and feel sure that no difficulty will be found in obtaining competent officers.

Some weeks ago there appeared in one of the daily papers the statement that the Oddfellows had made their own arrangements, and that the rest of the societies had made no headway in procuring, their medical men.7 liiWo wish to stato that it is contrary to fact, and 'should not have been inserted without first inquiring if the statements therein were correct. In the first place,i.only about half of the Oddfellows have arranged for medical officers, and since that paragraph appeared in print the Loyal Antipodean Lodge, numbering some hundreds of members, have decided to support the combined conference in the forming of our Medical Institute in Wellington'.

One of the medical profession stated the doctors' position last night. Ho said that the rates fixed by the lodges here were fixed twenty-five years ago at least, when most of the lodgo members were working men. The rate was 15s. a year, or one penny a day. That rate had been maintained. There wjjs uo mileage rate. . Doctors had been attending patients at Brooklyn and such places, and got nothing' extra for it. iV good many of the people were not rery well' off when they joined the lodges, but some were now moro prosperous than the doctors themselves. The cost of living had gone up, and so had wages, but the lodge members (many of whom were trade unionists, who sought increased pay) did not apply this to the Years ago 3 doctor could hire a gig for £150 1 year. Now they needed which cost (say) £1 a day. Lodg) members could get attention for then*; selves and family at a price for which' they could hardly buy a good pair oi boots. The only restriction was that boys and girls over certain ages wore 110't to be attended by lodge doctors. The whole position was simple. The payment was insufficient, and if the .lodges did not offer better terms the doctors would refuso i<f work at con-tract-rates. An unpleasant feature of the .whole • thing was that the many combined to squeeze out the best terms from the individual.. .The doctors were now adopting lodge methods by combining also to combat the squeezing.