Case of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in relation to the medical Bills now before Parliament.

  • Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Case of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in relation to the medical Bills now before Parliament. 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.

    1/8
    ♦ % CASE OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND IN RELATION TO THE MEDICAL BILLS NOW BEFORE PARLIAMENT. It will be admitted, that the object of medical legislation can be no other than that of securing a well-qualified medical pro- fession, and of providing a registration, by which the qualifications of medical practitioners shall be certified and published; and it may be assumed that the Legislature will not be induced wan- tonly to subvert or injure those institutions to which the guar- dianship of the profession has been hitherto entrusted by Acts of Parliament and Royal Charters. It cannot, however, escape attention, that the Bill prepared and brought in by Lord Elcho is calculated to transfer the powers, hitherto exercised with ac- knowledged advantage to the profession and the public, to the Council established by the 3rd Clause of that Bill, and thereby virtually to extinguish the privileges and independent action of the medical corporations. And it will be recollected, that the governing bodies of these corporations consist of the most eminent practitioners of the respective divisions of the United Kingdom. The case of each of these institutions, affected as they are by the measures now before Parliament, may well deserve a separate consideration; but that of the Royal College of Surgeons of England has features so peculiar and distinctive, and the mischief likely to be inflicted on its constitution and functions is of so grave a character, that the deliberate attention of the Legislature may be justly claimed to the following brief statement in con- nexion with the proposed legislative measures:— The incorporation of Surgeons in England dates from the reign of Henry VIII., and both by Royal Charter and legislative enactment the important duties of examining the qualifications of surgical practitioners, and of promoting the art and science of Surgery, were confided to the Corporation. In the year 1800, by a Charter granted by the Crown, the Corporation assumed the title of a Royal College, with the con- firmation of its authority; and by the subsequent Charter of