The NHS Flashcards
What was the name of the Minister of Health who oversaw the introduction of the NHS?
The Minister of Health in the 1945 Labour Government was Aneurin Bevan. He was sometimes known as Nye Bevan.
When did the NHS actually start operating?
5 July 1948
When was the National Health Service Act introduced?
1946
What did the National Health Service Bill propose when it was first announced?
(1) All hospitals would be taken over and put under thirteen regional health boards, which would be controlled by the Ministry of Health. (2) All doctors would be paid a salary, instead of receiving fees for each of their patients. (3) Doctors would not be allowed to set up new practices in areas where there were already enough doctors. Instead they would be encouraged to move to areas where there were insufficient doctors. (4) Lastly, doctors would not be allowed to buy and sell practices and with them lists of patients.
What was the BMA and who did it represent?
The British Medical Association represented 51,000 GPs and hospital doctors.
Who led the campaign against the National Health Service Bill?
Th BMA set up a campaign to fight the NHS Bill. It was led by two doctors, Guy Dain and Charles Hill. Charles Hill was well known as the ‘Radio Doctor’. He had made many broadcasts answering questions on the BBC. Hill was also used by the Conservative Party in its campaign against the NHS.
What concessions did Aneurin Bevan make to the National Health Service Bill to get the doctors to support it?
Consultants would be able to work part-time for the NHS and so continue with their private patients. They would also be able to use private beds in NHS hospitals to treat their private patients. Bevan also agreed that doctors would not be paid solely by a salary; they would also receive a fee for every patient on their list. Bevan also agreed that doctors who joined the NHS would be able to retain private patients and the fees that they received for treating them.
How many doctors opposed the National Health Service Bill when it came out?
In 1947 a poll organised by the BMA showed that 40,814 doctors were against joining the NHS, while only 4,735 were in favour.
What were people entitled to under the new National Health Service?
Everyone in Britain was entitled to completely free medical care. This included visits to doctors, prescriptions, hospital treatment and operations, emergency services, dental treatment and false teeth, opticians and free spectacles and vaccinations and clinics.
How were hospitals run under the new National Health Service?
All the hospitals in the country (about 3,000) were taken over by the government and doctors were paid by the state.
What difference did the new NHS make to the way ordinary people viewed their GP?
The GP soon became the ‘Family Doctor’. Not somebody people were frightened to visit because of the likely cost, but somebody who could be called on in times of need. Some elderly people began to make regular visits to their GPs for reassurance and inevitably costs rose.
What did Aneurin Bevan admit privately that he had done in order to get the support of doctors for the NHS?
He admitted that “I stuffed their mouths with gold,” meaning that he had promised the doctors a large amount of money in order to get them to agree to the NHS.
Who was the leader of the Labour Government when the NHS was introduced?
Clement Attlee.
What is a GP?
GP stands for General Practitioner, and is a general doctor who treats minor illnesses in a local surgery.
Who did some angry doctors compare Aneurin Bevan to?
Some compared him to Hitler and the Nazis. One doctor wrote: “I have examined the National Health Service Bill and it looks uncommonly like the first step, and a big one, towards National Socialism [Nazism] as practised in Germany. The medical services there were put under the dictatorship of a ‘Medical Führer’.”
