Remarks read before a sub-committee appointed to consider the question of provident dispensaries / by William Ogle.

  • Ogle, William, 1824-1905.
Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Remarks read before a sub-committee appointed to consider the question of provident dispensaries / by William Ogle. 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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    It is, however, supposed that such posts are introduc- tions to private practice, and the eagerness with which the appointments are sought when vacancies occur, seems to justify the conclusion that it is commercially worth while to obtain and hold such positions without pecuniary reward. This inducement, if allowed greater prominence as a motive than is admissible in every case of private practice, becomes in the highest degree objectionable. In principle, at least, it takes no account of the interest of the patient^ and thus it is unworthy of an honorable mind, it is painful to a sensitive one, and it deprives the Medical Attendant of that best return, which is perfectly compatible with the highest scale of remuneration, and which invariably ac- companies the conviction, that he is actuated by a sense of duty. In truth there is a secret pleasure in the duties of a medical man, which follows, as a natural consequence, on the exercise of his noble calling. There is a reward in being the means of relieving suffering, which is not derived from personal aggrandisement; there is a present enchant- ment in the path of science, which is more attractive than the hope of future gain; there is a recompense in the face of a friend which the hand of a mere paymaster cannot supply. These are the returns which every Medical Attendant values most highly, and he obtains them alike from the rich and from the poor. The payment in money is in all cases but a part, and in many cases of necessity but a small part, of his reward. The variety allowed by custom in the scale of charges, is a tacit avowal that the fee is oftentimes, we B