Observations on the arrangements connected with the relief of the sick poor : addressed in a letter to the Right Honourable the Lord John Russell ... / by John Yelloly.

Date:
1837
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the arrangements connected with the relief of the sick poor : addressed in a letter to the Right Honourable the Lord John Russell ... / by John Yelloly. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    By the second report of the Poor Law Commis- sioners it is satisfactory to see, that in recommend- ing the method of tender, they disclaim any pro- ceeding at all derogatory to the character of the medical profession ; but at the same time I think it must be fairly admitted, in justification of the feelings of annoyance which have arisen on the subject, that in adopting the practice in the first instance, in order to guard against the unworthy conduct of some particular men, it was difficult to view the proposition in the complimentary light in which the explanation of the Commissioners has endeavoured to put it. With regard to the opinion of the Commission- ers, that the office of parochial or district surgeon, is likely to offer inducements to obtain it, differing in degree, but similar in kind to those presented by the chief medical institutions of the country, I have every conviction that the united feeling of the pro- fession is not in accordance with this idea. Hospitals and Dispensaries impart a considerable degree of consequence to the offices connected with them, because the offices are generally held by Physicians and Surgeons of rank and estimation ; but attendance on parish poor is declined by the higher part of the profession, and until the import- ance of the Parish Surgeon is raised, (which cer- tainly may be done to a certain extent) the induce-