Medicine and the public / by S. Squire Sprigge.

  • Sprigge, S. Squire (Samuel Squire), 1860-1937.
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Medicine and the public / by S. Squire Sprigge. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    matter. Hospital abuse is one expression of a desire on the part of the public to obtain medical assistance at the lowest possible price, and it is as part of a resistance to such tactics that the remedy must come. For the present the question has entered into a vicious circle and every step aggravates the difficulty. The workmen giving such large sums in the aggre¬ gate do not see that they are not contributing their just quota, and are not really paying for service rendered. They give pence but think in terms of thousands of pounds. The more hospital abuse prevails the more disinclined will the well-to-do classes be to subscribe, for the knowledge is abroad that the money of the charitable subscribers is being misapplied. The amount given decreases, and this leads the managers of hospitals to rely more and more on the subscriptions of the working classes, and to refrain from making inquiries when cases of abuse come before them. It is towards breaking this vicious circle that efforts should be directed. The agitation against hospital abuse has led to a few reforms here and there, but such sporadic attempts at remedy do not meet the case. What is required is education of public opinion. The public should be helped to understand the fact that machinery to some extent really exists to deal with the whole situation, only it is improperly used owing to the eccentric ignorance that prevails among all classes. An injured man or a sick woman turns at once to the nearest hospital for aid, the out-patient depart¬ ment becomes grossly crowded, and the real sufferers are thrust to the wall by applications for assistance, justified neither by the plight of the patients nor by 5