Provident dispensaries and Friendly Societies' Medical institutions : extracts from the report of Mr. Allam ... respecting inquiries made in Birmingham, Coverntry ... on behalf of the Medical Committee of the Charity Organisation Society / [prepared by W. Allam].

Date:
1879
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Provident dispensaries and Friendly Societies' Medical institutions : extracts from the report of Mr. Allam ... respecting inquiries made in Birmingham, Coverntry ... on behalf of the Medical Committee of the Charity Organisation Society / [prepared by W. Allam]. 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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    Up to the year 1862, it was purely a charitable institu- tion, but was then converted into a provident institution. At the onset fears were entertained lest, in its new form, it would not meet with the general support of the working classes. These fears, however, were soon dissipated on witness- ing the steady and rapid increase in the number of members. The first year of the change (1862) the number of members stood at 2,186 ; in 1870 (when two branches were opened) this number had increased to 8,937, in 1876 to 19,861, and in the past year (after two other branches had been opened) the number of members had reached the very high total of 23,000. It has been stated by Mr. B. G. Chamberlain, who was for more than 30 years clerk to the Leicester Board of Guardians, that the establishment of the Leicester Provident Dispensary has had a most beneficial effect in the adminis- tration of the Poor Law in Leicester, as the number of applicants to the union for medical relief had considerably decreased. For the last eighteen months new members have been admitted at the average rate of 100 per week. Notwith- standing that the institution has four branches, the pressure on the central department had become so great of late years as to induce the committee to take the necessary steps for enlarging the building. For this purpose the sum of J3,000 was raised by public subscription, and the projected improve- ments have now been carried out. For a provident dis- pensary, the present structure is probably the largest and most imposing in the kingdom. An effort is now being made to raise another sum of £1,000 to build a new branch Dispensary in lieu of a cottage that has hitherto been rented for the purpose, but which is now insufficient for the requirements of the neighbourhood. This largely increased accommodation necessarily involves considerable additional annual outlay, and the Board of Governors, believing that the substantial benefits conferred on the working classes by the Dispensary were much appreciated by them, determined to make an additional charge of twopence per quarter on each card towards current expenses. This small addition has been cheerfully acceded to by the members, and proved thoroughly successful. It will realise nearly £300 per annum. Members are admitted, when in health, on payment of an admission fee of one shilling, and a subsequent payment of one penny per week and the twopence above-mentioned per quarter, extra. One or two children in a family are admitted on a payment of a halfpenny per week each, and for three, or any number of children after the first two, no additional charge is made ; so that a man, his wife, and children, how- ever numerous, under 14 years of age, can all be supplied