The Medical Act (1858) Amendment Bill and medical reform : a paper read before the Abernethian Society at St. Bartholomew's Hospital on Thursday, January 29th, 1880 / by W.E. Steavenson.

  • Steavenson, W. E. (William Edward), 1850-1891.
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Medical Act (1858) Amendment Bill and medical reform : a paper read before the Abernethian Society at St. Bartholomew's Hospital on Thursday, January 29th, 1880 / by W.E. Steavenson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    6/33
    o In discussing this question, let the object of the Act be borne ■ clearly in mind : it was for the purpose of enabling the public ‘ to distinguish qualified from unqualified practitioners/ and this boon to the public was to be given at the expense of tho medical practitioners themselves by the fees paid by medical men for registration; and it was thought that the protection thus given to qualified men would repay them for the money so expended. The administration of the Act was given into the hands of the profession itself, in the persons of the members of the General Medical Council, all of whom are members of the profession; and even if they had neglected the interests of the public, it might have been thought that the profession would have received some consideration at their hands. But it appears that nearly half the yearly receipts of the General Medical Council finds its way into the pockets of its members, and the rest is frittered away in sundry ways—very little indeed expended in attaining the object for which the Medical Act was passed. I will not bother you with an analysis of the yearly returns of receipts and expenditure of the Council; they are published at the commencement of every year, and you can examine them for yourselves in the c Medical Register.5 But the two reports I had before me when writing this paper showed that fees, etc., to the members of the Council absorbed nearly half the receipts; out of £5,340 received in 1873, only £166 8s. 3cl. was expended in printing the ‘ Medical Register/ and £1 Os. 3d. in defraying ex- penses of prosecution. In 1878, £6,261 5s. 9d. was received and £260 17s. 6d. spent in printing the f Medical Register/ which appears to be the only endeavour made to enable the public ‘ to distinguish qualified from unqualified practitioners.5 Therefoi’e less than five per cent, of the receipts of the Council is expended in attaining the objects of the Bill ; of course, the salaries of clerks and rent of house, etc., would