Laws, list of officers for the year 1870-71, and of the honorary members and members : to which is added a report of the annual meeting ... July 13th, 1870 / Poor-Law Medical Officers' Association.
- Date:
- [1870]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Laws, list of officers for the year 1870-71, and of the honorary members and members : to which is added a report of the annual meeting ... July 13th, 1870 / Poor-Law Medical Officers' Association. 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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![cent, of Uic out-door jwor were actually on the Medical OlBcer's books, not inclutliiig the lamilics dependent on the sick. Irrespective of these there were vast numbers of old people disabled by age or permanent dis- ability ; oG per cent, were children, many of whom were orphan.s, whilst death, absence, or desertion of the male head of the family accounted for the rest. In 16 unions the stipends of the Medical Ufticers ranged from 8d. to Is. per patient; in 239 from Is. to 3s.; in 348 from os. to 7s.; in 51 from 7s. to 16s. per patient. Contra.sting the systems in England and Ireland, he found the salaries in England, with all drugs to find, averaged £49 only; in Ireland, with nothing to find, £90. [Hear.] The speaker then proceeded to show, by further quotations from returns, that this higher medical relief had led to a vastly diminished Poor Law ex- penditure in poor Ireland. Thus this Association had a clear case to go upon, for the advance of their objects would be incontestablj' for the public good; and Dr. Drady, who was one of their body [cheers] had been doing a vast public service when advocating their claims before the House of Commons. [Cheers.] It had been Dr. Brady's good fortune to rise above his profession in the social scale, and he had the proud gratifi- cation of conferring superannuation allowance upon his brethren in Ireland nnd in England, and his labours had been fully appreciated. [Cheers.] There was another feature in the case. When Dr. Brady asked the Council 1o obtain for him particulars of cases of distress among Poor- Law Medical Officers arising from the lowness of their stipends, and their heavy work, and application wa.s made for such cases, then, directly, letters came in from all parts of the country to an extent which was sick- ening and horrifying. There was no question that the poor needed more consideration in the provision of Medical Officers and medicine, and the Poor Law Medical Officer had a right to expect that years of labour with the poor should bring its reward. He had been driven out of the Poor Law Medical service for advocating these matters, but he would continue to advocate them: and in coupling the toast with the name of Dr. Brady, he would say that cabin and house in Ireland alike blessed that name, and English Medical officers would remember that it was that of one who had raised his voice to save them from the possibility of spending their last days like the paupers they had attended. [Cheers.] Dr. Brady, after acknowledging the warmth with which the toast had been received, said he saw around the table many members of the House who powerfully supported him, and especially the learned late Lord Advocate, of Scotland, who had not only given his earnest support to the Superannuation Bill, but had also enlisted his party in its favoui*. [Cheers.] And the profession would take its natural and proper position in the rank of this country if it continued its efforts. [Hear.] That meeting had gladdened his heart, and he rejoiced at being present, supported as he was by so many inembcrs of the House of Commons, and while thanking them for the .sympathy .shown to him, he promised that Association that they would succeed if they would only labour on as they had done hitherto, and if they would follow in the course laid down for them by their Council, whose labours had been great indeed for their benefit. Knowing himself what they had done, he could inform thai meeting that his own labours and those of his friends in the House of Commons, would have been without avail, without the support of the Council, for the Bill would have been regarded as some medical measure'' — and would never have received a second consideration. Therefore, the profession owed his friend, Dr. Kogers, and the other members of the Council, a debt of gratitude which they would never be able to pay. [Cheers.] Going on to another question, and referring to the matter touched upon by Sir John Gray, that of medical education and one system of qualification, he said the result of attempting an alteration of](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21920606_0040.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
