Volume 3

The state and the doctor / by Sidney and Beatrice Webb.

  • Sidney Webb
Date:
1910
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The state and the doctor / by Sidney and Beatrice Webb. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    51/322 (page 33)
    In many Unions it is ordered that, as the recom¬ mendations of Medical Officers for meat and stimulants are regarded as equivalents to orders for additional relief, they should in all cases be accompanied by a report from the District Medical Officer (in one Union1 the Relieving Officer) in a prescribed form, setting forth the particulars of each case ascertained by personal inquiry.2 In others, the rule is that “ medical extras and other relief are only to be supplied in case of emergency, and not continued if the case might with profit be admitted to the infirmary ” ;3 or that they are not to be given unless the “ District Medical Officer certifies that the patient can be efficiently treated at home.” In a few Unions the rule is that where there has been no order of the Board of Guardians, medical extras are to be given only “ on loan ” by the Relieving Officer, “ except to at the Guardians’ expense. At St. Pancras there is the same arrangement but the fitter comes to the dispensary. Spectacles, where mentioned, are said to be supplied by a local optician ; at St. Pancras, cases recommended by the District Medical Officers are sent to the workhouse infirmary ; in a difficult case the Medical Officer there tests the eyesight, but in the majority of cases this is done by an optician, who will attend, if necessary, at the patients’ homes. At Birmingham, an oculist attends at the parish offices the first Monday in each month at 11 a.m. to examine the eyes of out-relief patients and children from the Roman Catholic certified schools ; also once every fortnight (Wednesday) at the Workhouse, and once every fortnight (Tuesday) at Marston Green Homes. As regards teeth, these are seldom supplied by the Guardians. We understand that in some cases in the Metropolis they have been supplied. It is, however, reported that the great majority of the Poor Law aged patients suffer from dyspepsia, due to the absence of teeth or the use of food unsuitable for that absence. In a rural Union, where the Guardians are chiefly farmers, it is idle to expect them to provide for paupers what they do not think necessary to provide for them¬ selves ; but suitable food might be provided for the toothless. In London simple dentistry is sometimes performed. The removal of septic teeth ought, indeed, to be regarded as a necessity. 1 Holborn. 2 Rules of Bridge, Cardiff, Crediton, Evesham, Hastings, Haverfordwest, Oxford, Taunton, and other Boards of Guardians. 3 Rules of Holborn and Lewisham Boards of Guardians,