Volume 1

International studies on the relation between the private & official practice of medicine with special reference to the prevention of disease / conducted for the Milbank Memorial Fund by Sir Arthur Newsholme.

  • Newsholme, Arthur, Sir, 1857-1943.
Date:
1931
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: International studies on the relation between the private & official practice of medicine with special reference to the prevention of disease / conducted for the Milbank Memorial Fund by Sir Arthur Newsholme. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    67/258 (page 63)
    The Danish Medical Association represents the entire medical profession, and it setdes the salaries to be given to hospital doctors, which are liberal, and negotiates with insurance societies as to payment for medical attendance. The Association exerts an important influence on profes- sional conduct, as it can secure the exclusion from insurance practice of any doctor found guilty of unethical conduct. Dr. Kuhn confirmed the statement made by others that in the relation between part-time health oflicers and other medical practitioners little or no friction was experienced. It appeared to be the universal experience that private practitioners of medicine almost without exception regarded it as part of their duty to help in health matters. The same spirit is manifested in the concurrence of private practi- tioners in the hospital treatment of such a high proportion of the total cases coming under their care. To the extent to which this co-operation is effective—and it is effective to a remarkable extent—it is a practical expression of that spirit of social service which approaches the ideal formu- lated by the writer many years ago when “every medical practitioner becomes a medical officer of health within the range of his daily practice”. Nursing Dr. Frandsen states that there are about 7,000 trained nurses in Denmark. Very largely home nursing has been worked out by special clubs. There are about 800 of these clubs in rural districts, with 900 to 1,000 nurses. Deaconess institutions also provide some 200 trained nurses in towns. In the larger towns municipal nurses tend the poor free of charge. The provision of home nursing on the line of voluntary insurance fits in with the medical insurance arrangements in Denmark. Midwifery The practice of midwifery by unqualified women is prohibited. There is one State centre for training midwives, the course of instruction lasting twenty-four months. About