Britain Transformed: Public Health- Health Provision 1918-45 Flashcards
(39 cards)
What did the 1911 National Insurance Act introduce?
A system of compulsory health insurance for low-paid employees earning under £160 per year, providing sick pay and free medical treatment. However, it did not cover the unemployed or families of wage earners.
How was healthcare provided to the poor in 1918?
Through private charitable and philanthropic groups, the Poor Law (via Poor Law Hospitals), and workhouse infirmaries, many of which later became hospitals.
What was the general healthcare consensus in the interwar years?
That the government should coordinate healthcare provision, invest in research and medical training, organise a national network of hospitals, and play a role in rationing healthcare.
What role did the Fabian Society advocate for government in healthcare?
Centralised, state-planned healthcare to significantly improve healthcare for all.
What did the Labour Party propose in 1919 regarding healthcare?
A free and comprehensive national health service.
What was the BMA’s stance on healthcare provision?
A regional system coordinated by central government.
What did the 1920 Dawson Report recommend?
A network of state-funded and state-organised hospitals.
What was the recommendation of the 1926 Royal Commission on National Health Insurance?
A regional healthcare structure funded through a compulsory health insurance scheme.
What did private and voluntary hospitals lobby for in the 1930s?
Government funding (unsuccessfully).
What were the three main types of voluntary hospitals?
University/medical school hospitals, specialist hospitals (e.g., TB), and cottage hospitals in rural communities.
Who staffed voluntary hospitals?
Doctors and surgeons who often worked voluntarily, supported by private income or other paid work.
What did the 1935 Voluntary Hospitals Commission propose?
Merging voluntary and local authority hospitals to combine expertise and finances.
What did the 1937 Report by Political and Economic Planning recommend?
A regional model based on central government planning and more funding.
What was the significance of the Ministry of Health established in 1919?
It coordinated regional healthcare and administered funds from the national insurance scheme.
Who was the first Minister of Health and what was his background?
Christopher Addison, a doctor and academic who had organised medical care for troops in WWI.
Why was TB a major concern after WWI?
It was the most serious public health issue at the time.
What was the Medical Research Council (MRC), and who led it?
A body created under the 1919 Ministry of Health Act to research TB; led by Lord Richard Haldane.
What did the Tuberculosis Act 1921 mandate?
Local authorities were required to provide TB sanatoria.
What was the outcome of coordinated TB efforts from 1920 to 1938?
A consistent decline in TB cases.
What was the most important healthcare reform of the 1920s?
The Local Government Act 1929, led by Neville Chamberlain.
What were the three key changes introduced by the Local Government Act, 1929?
- Transferred responsibility for Poor Law hospitals to county and borough councils.
- Allowed conversion of Poor Law infirmaries into public hospitals.
- Gave local authorities responsibility for clinics, child welfare, dentistry, school medical services, and school meals.
What proportion of the population was insured against illness in 1929?
Less than half.
What healthcare problems were caused by the Great Depression?
Uninsured people relied on inadequate private insurance; extreme poverty increased illness and premature death in deprived areas.
What was the new consensus on healthcare in the 1930s?
That provision was inefficient, varied in quality, and failed many patients. A regional approach was favoured, not a national service.
