Beveridge-architect of NHS. M - was a student nurse at Leeds changes.
forcing them into bankruptcy.
The municipal bospitals, which had originated in the workhouses. set up under the Poor Laws, were considered to be interior to the voluntary hospitals. They took over You hardly had time to go to the dining By 1939, the British health system was falling apart. Its limitations and utter inadequacy forced the ruling class to consider making The voluntary hospitals started by monastic orders and mainly supported by charities — dealt with about 35 per cent of the sick. Medical advances and the increases in the diagnostic services were the very sick and the dying, or the patients who were going to spend long spells in hospital.
the appalling state of working class health the old system of voluntary and municipal hospitals, and its inefficient distribution of personnel and resources, was a uscless structure through which to channel Nation of the NHS.
The war and conscription showed The ruling class understood that a much needed investment in labour 'BACKLOG Capitalism wanted a health service The new heulth service would have two functions. Firstly, to clear Britain. idge Report forecast the cost of the general standards of health improved.
The working class, recovering years, were determined not to return state to the degrading conditions imposed by the pre-war health system. There There appeared to be a conver- escalating costs boasted of ta sociulist health service Although the NHS represented tants that they would withdraw their services, Bevan accepted their right to continue with private patients. The medical profession, particularly the well-paid and very conservative doctors, have essentially determined the structure and organisSince the introduction of the NHS there have been considerable BOB PENNINGTON improvements in health. The infantile mortality rate has been cut by 50 per cent. The death rate has been continually falling In the period 1961 to 1971 it dropped by eight per cent for men, and twelve per cent for women. In whole areas of health surgery, spectacles, etc - big strides forward have been made.
All this has been achieved at a very low cost. The NHS budget absorbs less than five per cent of the economy. The figures for the USA are seven percent and West Germany also spends a bigger part of its fiross National Product on bealth than BENEFITS British capitalism thus enjoys the benefits of having a working class healtl service paid for at less cost than its main competitors Finance for the NHS is determined not by the needs of the health service but the priorities allocated to national spending by the capitalist The labour intensive character of the NHS. the longer expectation of life, and the demands of the working class itself for better standards are inbuilt factors towards The state bas, however, to try and Testrain expenditure. Other sectors of state expenditure are also er pandsecurity and grants to industry ar u time when capitalism's ccosomic therefore, according to the government, has to lake its turn in the The crisis of social expenditure and fast-growing inflation means health expenditure actually fell as a share of the economy during the sixties, As more capital expenditure is now required to build new hospitals, hardly any new buildings were crected in the sixties, and current national spending will continue to fall in relation to the size of the The improvements in working as not to contravene the patent. On occasions companies reject new dis coveries if they cannot be patented The pharmaceutical firms are now wapoga campaign to lengthen the term on patents - now standing at 16 years — to 20 years. The patent Taws ensure that reseurch is done secretly and that rivals do not get jective; hold of information. This neans that different research teams are often working on altost identical projects at the same time. Instead of information being pooled for medical use, it becomes protected areas for the exciusive use of one com In 1966 the pharmaccutical industry spent E15.4 million on sales promotion, which is about 14 per cent of its total UK sales that year. In 1971 it spent 14.6 per A favourite trick of the drug compantes when advertising their products is to quote favourable references from various scientific journals. Hospital technicians, nurses and ancalary