MEDICAL SERVICE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 September 1941, Page 4

MEDICAL SERVICE

GOVERNMENT PROPOSALS CONDEMNED BY DOCTORS. TWO FUNDAMENTAL OBJECTIONS. ißy Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND. September 7. The imposition of a socialised general practitioner scheme on the medical profession on the own terms was condemned on grounds] of principle by the president of the New Zealand branch of the British Medical Association. Dr H. M. Wilson, Hastings, in a statement of personal views before his departure for the south today. "The fundamental objections to the Bill arc two.” said Dr Wilson. “In the first place it forces a revolutionary and socialistic change upon our profession behind the backs of those of our members who are serving in the forces overseas, and secondly' it substitutes conscription for private rights as a permanent feature of medical practice. “The scheme now proposed is far too complex in its implications, to be rushed through in a hurry. In plain English the present proposals amount to permanent and peace-time conscription of the medical profession, and they present a set of terms and conditions which the present Government' would neither wish nor dare to impose, even on the weakest and least significant trade union in this Dominion.

‘•The present Bill abolishes entirely all suggestion of agreement or contract in the relationship of patient and doctor, and it shuts and bolts the door against any appeal by doctors to the principles and benefits of collective bargaining. In the absence of so many of our colleagues it is grossly unfair that we should be asked to assent to a change which is so revolutionary and which will so vitally affect them on their return. It is far from ordinary British justice—it is not even decent fair play. “If the Labour Party were in opposition, would its members agree silently to a proposal for permanent conscription of workers when a third of their number wore fighting overseas? Would they agree to peacetime conscription of workers under any circumstances? Yet that is exactly what they intend to impose on the members of the medical profession at a time when so many of them are away' and cannot be heard in their own defence. “We maintain that a medical man. like anyone else, has an imperative right under law to be allowed to earn his living in his own way. his has always been one of the fundamental features of British law. As a citizen in a free country a doctor should be at liberty to employ' his skill, knowledge and ability in whatever way' he thinks best, but with proper regard for the interests of the community. “This Bill is vicious in principle and is certain to be injurious in practice. It rests upon coercion—an ugly' word in the ears of British people. It takes away the natural rights of some hundreds of doctors who are not here to protest and protect themselves. The Bill will do nothing to improve medical service in general or to secure a worth-while improvement in the health of the people as a whole. “To the ordinary citizen I would say: Have you ever heard of such a thing as the golden rule? Would you be prepared to have your own job conscripted? If not, how can you stand silently by while mine is treated in that manner? If you allow my job to be conscripted, what will you say when your turn comes to be dealt with in a similar way?”