Annual report : 1947 / Royal Albert Edward Infirmary and Dispensary.
- Royal Albert Edward Infirmary and Dispensary (Wigan, England) no2006079340.
- Date:
- 1947
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Annual report : 1947 / Royal Albert Edward Infirmary and Dispensary. Source: Wellcome Collection.
71/88 (page 63)
![GIFTS TO HOSPITALS. Explanatory Memorandum as to the Effect of Gifts to Hospitals after the passing of the National Health Service Act, 1946. [Prepared by Chancery Counsel at the request of the British Hospitals Association]. 1. The British Hospitals Association has reason to believe that many intending donors have recently revoked legacies or refrained from making gifts to Hospitals, because either (a) they assumed that the Hospitals would no longer need their support, or (b) they feared that any money given by them would, on “ the appointed day ” when the National Health Service came into force, be diverted from the particular Hospital or purpose which they wished to endow. As regards (a), the Association has already explained in a Review of the Hospital Service under the Act how important it is, if the vitality and humanity of the Hospital Service in this country is to be maintained, that the Hospitals should continue to receive financial support from all charitably disposed persons. As regards (&), The National Health Service Bill in its original form certainly gave grounds for this fear. The Bill was, however, amended in important respects as the result of the debates in the House of Lords, and the Association is anxious that the effect of these amendments should be fully appreciated. In particular it is desired that legal practitioners should, whenever they feel that they can properly do so, draw the attention of charitably minded clients to the true position under the Act as explained below. The purpose of this Memorandum is to explain briefly how intend¬ ing donors may still make gifts to Hospitals with the assurance that their benefactions will be applied in accordance with their intentions and for the benefit of the particular Hospitals or locality in which they are interested. Gifts Made Before the Appointed Day. 2. ’ Whilst it is true that moneys given to the non-teaching Hospitals prior to the passing of the Act on 6th November, 1946, will, on the appointed day, be put into a national pool and redistributed, it is important to note that this does not apply to gifts made between 6th November, 1946 and the appointed day, provided that such gifts are made upon trusts which (in accordance with Section 7 of the Act) provide— either (a) “ for the administration of the property [i.e., gifts] as a capital fund separate from the general funds of the Hospital.” This involves that the donor should direct that the money given by him should be treated and set apart as a capital fund, so that only the income is applied for the purposes of the Hos¬ pital. The income, however, in this case may be made avail¬ able for the general purposes of the Hospital and need not be earmarked for any specific purpose. It should be noted, how¬ ever, that after the appointed day the whole fund (both capital and income) will be applicable in the hands of the Hospital Management Committee for purposes other than general main-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b31709606_0071.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
