The evolution of community medicine. Part 6, The ministry of health.

London : University of London Audio-Visual Centre, 1984.

1 encoded moving image (17.19 min.) : sound, color

00:17:19

University of London

Unrestricted

CC-BY-NC

Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 2.0 UK: England & Wales

In English

Presented by Dr Sidney Chave, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Produced by John Winn and Paul Wilks. Edited by David Crawford. Made by University of London Audio-Visual Centre.

This video is one of around 310 titles, originally broadcast on Channel 7 of the ILEA closed-circuit television network, given to Wellcome Trust from the University of London Audio-Visual Centre shortly after it closed in the late 1980s. Although some of these programmes might now seem rather out-dated, they probably represent the largest and most diversified body of medical video produced in any British university at this time, and give a comprehensive and fascinating view of the state of medical and surgical research and practice in the 1970s and early 1980s, thus constituting a contemporary medical-historical archive of great interest.

Segment 1 Chave, seated, talks to the camera. He begins by talking about the Great War and the three main health developments that happened at that time: tuberculosis, venereal disease and maternity and child welfare. He focuses first of all on tuberculosis. Chave gives a history of the prevalence of the disease in England and describes the setting up of sanatoriums in country districts by county authorities. Chave then moves on to talk about venereal disease which increased alarmingly during the Great War. The Local Government Board saw to the setting up of a national VD service with venereal disease clinics in every public health district in the land. The war years also saw the expansion of maternal and child care and the establishment of Maternity and Child Welfare Clinics across the country. At the end of the war, the Local Government Board was replaced by the Ministry of Health. Time start: 00:00:00:00 Time end: 00:06:27:00 Length: 00:06:27:00

Segment 2 Chave shows photographs of Christopher Addison, George Newman and Robert Morant, over which he describes their role in the establishment of the Ministry of Health. The first two major concerns facing the Ministry of Health were housing and the Poor Law. Housing had been a problem for over 50 years and remained so until over 30 years later when Harold MacMillan became Minister of Health. Time start: 00:06:27:00 Time end: 00:11:08:00 Length: 00:04:41:00

Segment 3 Chave moves on to talk about the Poor Law. The new Ministry of Health was made responsible for the Poor Law which it eventually abolished in 1948. The responsibilities of the Poor Law were now transferred to the local authorities, including the infirmaries which now became Municipal Hospitals. The Medical Officer of Health was responsible for the administration of the local hospital, as well as the Maternity and Child Welfare Clinic and the VD clinics. On top of that, he was responsible for the school health in his area. The Medical Officer of Health maintained this power for 20 years until the coming of the National Health Service in 1948. Time start: 00:11:08:00 Time end: 00:17:19:16 Length: 0:06:11:16