Sick paupers and their medical attendants : an exposé of the fraud inflicted on the sick poor, and the ratepayer, in the employment by poor-law medical officers of unqualified assistants / by C.H.
- Holmes, C.
- Date:
- 1878
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Sick paupers and their medical attendants : an exposé of the fraud inflicted on the sick poor, and the ratepayer, in the employment by poor-law medical officers of unqualified assistants / by C.H. 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.
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![be to attend personally,* except in case of unavoidable absence, on every person who shall have obtained an order from the Relieving Officer, and on the aged, and infirm, who are perma- nently in the receipt of parochial relief; and the Local Govern- ment Board do not permit Medical Officers appointed under their regulations to depute their duties to Assistants, whether qualified or not.f “ The appointment being made, must be submitted for con- firmation to the Local Government Board, who require that the Officer should possess registered Medical and Surgical qualifica- tions, and that he shall reside within the district; these require- ments being complied with, the appointment is permanent, and the Officer is so far free from any prejudice, or caprice of the Guardians, as to be irremoveable, except with the assent of the Local Government Board, half his salary being paid out of the Consolidated Fund. “The Medical Officer is further required under their order to appoint a substitute, also legally qualified, to assist him in. his emergencies, and to submit to the Guardians a book, or sheet, called ‘ The Weekly Medical Return,’ in which all visits made by any other person than himself shall be marked in red ink, and an account entered of the Meat, Wine, &c., ordered for the Sick. “ It is the duty of the Relieving Officer to visit from time to time all sick paupers ; to afford them the relief ordered by the Guardians; and also the extra nourishment ordered by the Medical Officer, unless he is prepared with good and sufficient reasons for his disobedience; and there is no doubt that he is bound to inform the Guardians, of any case coming within his knowledge, where the orders and regulations of the London Board are not observed. “ We have also a body of highly-paid gentlemen, styled In- spectors, whose duty it is to visit the Unions, call the attention of the Guardians to their shortcomings, and to report to their chiefs any cases of persistent non-compliance with the law. “We will now look at the other side of the picture, and see how this elaborate piece of machinery is put into action. “ First: We find that the Medical districts are so arranged as to inflict great hardship on the pauper, and great inconvenience * “ It is quite true that the regulations requiring the personal discharge of his duties by a District Medical Officer, in all cases in which he is not prevented by absence from home, or other hindrance, are very frequently disregarded.”—Letter of Local Government Inspector.—[C. H.] f See note ante. —[C. H-]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2235007x_0011.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
