CORRESPONDENCE

Te Puke Times, Volume II, Issue II, 28 November 1913, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE

MEDICAL ATTENTION. ' (To the Editor). Sir,—l should be pleased if you would publish the following extract from Mr H. G. Wells' work, "New Worlds for Old," which, will, I think; be generally considered a sufficient answer to Mr Lees' letter, that appeared in your last issue.—l am, etc., D. Hastings Young, M.8., M.S.'Edin. EXTRACT. If there is one profession mere than another in which devotion is implied and assumed, it is that of the doctor. It happens that upon the morning when this chapter was drafted, I came upon the paragraph that follows: it seemed to me to supply just one striking concrete instance of how life is degraded by our present system, and to offer me a convenient text for a word or so more upon this question between.gain and service. It is a little vague in its reference to Mr Tompkins, of " Birmingham," and I should not be surprised if it were not an exaggeration of what really happened. But it is true enough to life in this, that it is a common practice, a necessity with doctors in poor 'neighborhoods to insist inexorably upon ; a fee before attendance.:-

"A case of medical inhumanity is reported from Birmingham. A poor man named Tompkins was taken seriously ill early on Christmas morning, and, although snow was falling and the atmosphere waa terribly raw, his wife left the house in search of a doctor. The nearest practitioner declined to leave the house without being paid his fee ; a Bccond imposed the same condition, and the woman then went to the police station. As the horse ambulance was out, they could not help her, and she tried other doctors. In all the poor woman called oneight, and the only one who did not decline to get up without his fee was down with influenza. Eventually a local chemist was persuaded to seethe man. and he ordered his removal to the hospital.'

That is the story. You note the charge of " inhumanity " in the very first line, and in much subsequent press comment there was the same note. Apparently everyone expects a doctor to be ready at any point in the day. or night to attend anybody for nothing. Most socialists are disposed to agree with the spirit of that expectation. A practising doctor should be in lifelong perpetual war against pain and. disease, just as a campaigning doctor is continually alert and serving. But existing conditions will not permit that. Existing conditions require the doctor to get his fee at any cost; .if he goes about

doing work i for' nothing*• .they punish him with' sKabbiiiess. and incapacitating need, j they forbid his marriage, or doom his wife and children to poverty and unhappiness. A doctor must make moneywhatever.eisehe does or does not do; he MUST securehis fees. He ic a private adventurer, competing in a crowded market for gain, and keeping his ;ener-; gies perforce for those who can pay best for them/ To expect him to behave like a public servant whose income and' outlook (are secure, or like a priest whose church will never let Him want or starve, is ridiculous, If .you put him on a footing'.'-with the greengrocer and coal' merchant, you must expect hmr to behave like a tradesman. Whyshould the press blame the poor doctor of a poor neighbourhood because a moneyless man goes short of medical attendance, when it does not for one moment.blame Mr J, D. Rockfeller because a poor man goes short of oil, or the Duke of Devonshtre because tramps need lodgings in Eastbourne ? One never* reads 'this sort of paragraph:— . "Acase of commercial inhumanity is reported from Birmingham; A poor man named Tompkins was seriously hungry early on Christmas morning, and although snow was falling and the atmosphere was terribly raw, his wife left the house in search of food, y The nearest grocer declined to supply provisions without being paid his price; a second imposed the same coudition, and the woman then went to the police station. As that is not a soup kitchen they could nothelp her, and; ahe tried other grocers und bread-shops. In all the poor woman called on eight, and the only one who did not decline to supply food without payment was for' some reason bankrupt and out of stock. Eventually a local overseer was per: suadedto see the manj and he' ordered his removal to the workhouse, where,' after considerable hardship,,:he/;was partly appeased with skilly; I ' y:/;I, myself, have .known:-..an overworked, financially-worried doctor at his,bedroom window, callout, '* Have you bought the fee ?" and have pitied and understood his ugly i alternatives. "Once I. began that sort of thing,' he explained to me a little :they,d none of them pay—none,/; ; , The Socialist's J remedy Jfbr this squalid state' of affairs is plain and simple; Medicine'is a public service, an honorable devotion ; it should no more be a matter of profit-making than" the food-supply service or the ihousesupply service—or salvation.; It should be a part of the organisation of a civilised State -to haVe a Public Health : service- bff.*ellpaid/ highly-educated 'men tributed over, the country and closely correlated with public' research departments and i re-, serve of specialists, who; would be as ready and- eager to,face dangers and to sacnfice.v tKerriselves for honour' and social, ner cessity as soldiers or' sailors. I believe every honorable -man in medical profession under;: forty; now would ratheV it werelso. -:h It is, indeed, a transition.from' pri- : vate enterprise to public organisation that is'already beginning.: We have the first .intimation of the change in the: appearance of the medical'offlcer ;of health,derpaid, overworked and powerless though' he is at-the present time. It cannot be long'before the manifest absurdity of our" present conditions; begins a cess of socialization of the; medical profession analogous to that which has changed three-fourths; of the teachers in Great Britain; from private adventurers to public servants in the last forty years. ■■'..';■