Wanawatu Herald. THURSDAY, JAN, 11, 1900. Doctors.

Manawatu Herald, 11 January 1900, Page 2

Wanawatu Herald. THURSDAY, JAN, 11, 1900. Doctors.

n. In our first article on the above subject we endeavoured to show that the public believe that doctors charge fees for their advice and attendance far beyond the proportion that exists between the incomes they make and the sum they would make were they really constantly employed at their charges. They thus are enabled to make either an easier living than others who have started life off the same mark, or are making more than their ordinary abilities entitles them to. In every pursuit in life some men from force of character, great grasp of the subject they have made i their speciality, and from great industry, pass away from the ordinary [ ruck and are enabled to fix their own i cnarges for their time, but this individuality is given to but few and such charges are not to be taken as the basis on which the usual ones are to be made. In the country districts the difficulty of securing a properly qualified medical man is great, because amongst the most necessary qualifications of a doctor, is that of being a sober man, and the country districts appear to be exploited by men that the Medical Association allow to run loose, in the happy idea that having lost their self-respect in one town they may possibly pick it up again in another, and to whom does it matter ? — except the patients such a man has attendedand erred in some ingredient in his prescription. It is no knew fact that for the past 80 years this district, as well as possibly every district in the colony, has been run over with drunken medical men, and it is absurd to suppose that these men have never erred in their physic or advice, yet we do not remember ever one being brought to justice for such manslaughter. The reason seems to have been that no other medical man would give evidence to incriminate another. Is this right ? Holders of diplomas are ready to testify against chemists with an alacrity that is not surprising as they are those who interfere considerably with the close Medical Association, and if this Association wishes to earn its justification for consideration they must move quiokly in the way of setting very many of their members in order. One difficulty staring us in the face is the scarcity of steady medical men who are willing to take up a country practice. We have a scheme , in our minds' eye where the doctoring will be done by the State, and whoever will quietly think such an idea over, it will not appear to be a 1 surprising one. At present Friendly Societies band together and manage in the larger towns to secure cheaper medical attendance than those -who are not members, and though they have a perfect right to do so their action often leads to the rest of the public having to pay more. However as members of Friendly Societies have as much interest as the whole public in this matter we need not turn off the road to discuss this point. In the country Friendly Societies get no advantages and a colonial scheme would suit them. The Government, by the direction of the people, insures the lives of the colonists and thus to properly care for them in sickness would seem good policy. With some general scheme over the colony the Government could work from different bases, and their medical men could be so distributed, that while an ordinary man would take a district, a higher qualified man would be placed in a town, and specialists at the Hospital centres, and the thorough working would be in the hands of the Chief Medical Officer of the Hospital district. It would have to be arranged that if the local medical man deemed it ataable to haye tto advice of big

superiors, that he should attend, and if the patient wanted him he could visit him free of charge, or if the doctor attended the patient he should have to pay a fee. A general scheme would secure fixed salaries to the medical officers, and the fees that were charged should be on the smallest and equal scale, as no one should be called to pay more than another for the same article. These fees should be payable in stamps, like law court fees, and we believe that it would take but very little trouble to put the whole machinery into working order. We see no reason why the doctors holding good praotices should be interfered with beyond being given the option of falling in with the scheme, when their removal to some other districts might be necessitated. We may be twitted, with raising the parish doctor, but we have seen so much misery, so much sickness, so much unnecessary loss of life from the present way we are proceeding that parish doctor or district doctor, it matters little by what title he becomes known, so long as we secure for the country districts sober and properly qualified medical men.