Volume 1

National Health Insurance. : Report [and Appendices Vols 1-4] of the Departmental Committee on Sickness Benefit Claims under the National Insurance Act.

  • Great Britain. National Health Insurance Joint Committee.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: National Health Insurance. : Report [and Appendices Vols 1-4] of the Departmental Committee on Sickness Benefit Claims under the National Insurance Act. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    419 18 December 1913.] ' Mr. C. W. Woodcock. [Continued. been visited or seen by the doctor. He sent his wife to Dr. 's surgery declaring on, and for continuing-on certificates. As the surgery is only iJ three minutes' walk from 's house, the only conclusion I can draw is that ■ was not ill, or he would have visited the doctor with a view of obtaining proper treatment. I am of opinion that no sick pay should be paid to any member unless seen by a medical man. That is from one of my inspectors. 15,300-1. What have you done on that?—I have written to the doctor and have got his reply. Dear Sir,—-I have your letter about . This man suffers greatly from rheumatism. Tou may remember that he was off work for seven months in the early part of last year. He was then three weeks at Buxton, and has never been very well since. He has been, I think, several times on his club since then with a return of his complaint. On November 24th his wife came to me and said that her husband had come home from work, and had to go to bed with his old complaint. I prescribed for him, and gave her a declaring-on certificate, and intended to call and see him the next day, but I find I must have omitted to enter his name on my visiting list, and so forgot all about him. He returned to work on the 3rd inst. before I think he was fit to do so. To-day he has had to go to bed again, and I visited him and have given him a declaring-on certificate. I think he would do better if he had a day job — this man has always wanted a day job— night work is against him, but he is afraid if he gives off night work, he might have to accept a lower wage, and as he has five young children he cannot afford to run this risk. If he could have day work without reduc- tion of wage it would be advisable to bo this, and he would be grateful. I will see that in future certifi- cates for your society are signed in ink. Apologising for troubling you so much. I am, Faithfully yours, . P.S.—I find has seven children all under the age of 10, and he has no other club so that he is not likely to malinger. t 15,302. What did you do on that?—I have not done anything further. I complained to the doctor that he had given certificates without seeing the man, and had also written them out in pencil. He says that he will not write them out in pencil again, and I have not taken any further action. I cannot take action until I see my committee. 15,303-4. Tou are complaining of two things ; first, because he filled in this certificate in pencil, and, secondly, that the whole thing was a lie. He said This day I have examined somebody. Tou say that he had not ?—-I do not think that the doctors look upon this sort of thing the same as I do. They think the man is ill of an old complaint, and that they are safe in giving him a certificate. I do not think that the doctor gave the certificate. I think that it was his assistant. 15.305. Whose name was on the certificate ?—The doctor's. 15.306. Is it not very serious ?—-I think that it is a very serious thing for a doctor to give these sort of certificates, but we have known it to be done. They will stamp a number of certificates ready for use. 15.307. Tou are a business man, and have been in and about an office all your life, and have been accus- tomed to act upon written documents which purport to have signatures at the bottom of them ?—-Tes. 15.308. Do you take a light view of the action of somebody certifying that which is not a fact ?—I take a great stand against it, and I have written to this man, and have reported one doctor in Birmingham. 15.309. To my mind these things are little short of fraud ?—Tou suggest that action should be taken against this individual. 15.310. I do not see how the Commission is going to help you to protect your funds unless you protect your funds yourself? What this thing comes to is this : There is a certain sum of money in your control to be paid to a man who, before getting it, has to satisfies you that he is sick ?—Tes. 15.311. We know that that man has a great many temptations to cause him to try and get that money although not sick?—-Tes. 15.312. And we know that the only efficient way in which he can be prevented, if he is rather a slippery kind of fellow, is by the doctor looking after him ?— Tes. 15.313. Here we have two doctors who, it is admitted, have put it in the power of members to make claims, without either of those doctors having seen the men at all ?—Tes. 15.314. Perhaps you can protect your funds in other ways, but do you not think that it is almost impossible for other societies, who have not the same intimate relations, and do not know so much about their members, to protect their funds in these circum- stances ?—I should say that they are not in as good a position as myself to know, and that they must have similar cases. The witness withdrew. E 19630