The Dominion SATURDAY, JULY 28, 1917. A LEAD IN NATIONAL SERVICE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3143, 28 July 1917, Page 6

The Dominion SATURDAY, JULY 28, 1917. A LEAD IN NATIONAL SERVICE

♦ —: Taking the initiative in regard to the mobilisation of their profession for war and civilian service, the members of the British Mcdical Association have acted with commendable public spirit. Their action is also as paving the way for tho first comprehensive step in a schemo of national service which may have to'be greatly extended in the not distant future. Some tentative steps havo been taken in the organisations - of rural industries .with-a- view to meeting war conditions, but the action of the British Medical Association represents the first attempt made in this country to organise a whole profession in the public interest for national service. The conditions under which ffie members of the Medical Association propose that their profession should be mobilised commend themselves as just and reasonable.; The need for organisation is clearly established. Military demands have imposed a heavy drain upon tho medical profession, and a shortage- of doctors exists whioh has already given rise to a, considerable amount of troublo and inconvenience, notably in connection with the difficulty of maintaining adequate staffs at the publio hospitals. It is notorious also that under the existing haphazard arrangements many medical men are seriously overworked.' To continue as at present would be to invite a disastrous state of muddlement, more especially as the demand for doctors for special service at home and abroad is increasing instead of diminishing. At the present moment tho Minister of 1 Defence under the- necessity ■ of appointing additional medical boards in order to meet the demand that the medical examination of Second Division, reservists should .be .speeded up. The only way to satisfactorily meet existing and prospective conditions is to conscript the members of fession and distribute them where their services will be of most value; in military or civilian capacity as circumstances may demand. In this way the hardships resulting from, the shortage o£ doctors will be reduced 'to a minimum. In its main features, the scheme submitted to the Government by the British Mcdical Association seems eminently fair and reasonable. It is proposed that the doctors required by the State either for military or civilian service should be drawn by ballot by the same people and at the same time as the ordinary military ballots are drawn. _ In regard to exemptions, however, it is suggested that these should bo dealt with by a special tribunal consisting of the Advisory Board of the Medioal. Association, together with Surgeon-General Henderson, representing the Defence Department, and Dr. Valintine, the Public Health Department. This proviso is obviously necessary since the allocation of membors of tho mcdical profession to various services involves considerations upon which only experts are competent to adjudicate. No fault is to bo found with tho demand that doctors detailed by l-hc State for civilian sorvice should be guaranteed a net income of £GOO per annum—the salary paid to a captain in tho Now Zealand Mcdical Corps. In most cases doctors conscripted for scrvico on this basis will make a considerable sacrifice. The immediate loss of income is not the only factor to be taken into account. It is of more serious importance that a- doctor withdrawn front his practice for an indefinite period will in somo eases at least return to find that it has largely disappeared, and must be built again from small beginnings. The Minister of Punuc Health laid no moro emphasis than - it deserves oil this aspect of the matter when lie received a deputation from the hritisli Medica.l Association on Friday. n its broad aspect, the proposal ol tlic Medical Association is to be commended as a timely and patriotic recognition of the principle that in a period of war private interests must lie' subordinated to the interests ol

the gtincr.nl community. How far it will be necessary to go in applying to other professions and industries the national organisation now proposed in the case of the medical profession remains for the time a somewhat open question. The problem, however, is one which should reccivo the earnest attention and consideration of industrial and professional bodies of all kinds as welljis of tho Government and the National Efficiency Board. It is nractically certain that extended measures of organisation will become necessary as the strain of the war increases. Nothing better could bo desired in these circumstances than that tho workers conccrned should follow tho good example of the British Mcdical Association, and meet, or even anticipate, the Government with proposals intended to secure that their services shall bo turned to tho best possible account in the general interest.