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51
THE NATIONAL INSURANCE ACT, 1911, AND
TUBERCULOSIS DISPENSARIES.
This Act came into force in the middle of the year
1912. Inter alra, it revolutionizes medical practice
amongst persons earning less than £160 per annum, as
it abolishes the Club Doctor and substitutes an
enormously extended form of contract medical practice.
The effect of this change must of necessity be farreaching,
for although almost every thoughtful artisan
is a member of some benefit society, and many of these
societies formerly included the services of the club
surgeon amongst the benefits given for the quarterly
subscription, yet the large majority of the lower ranks
of working men, and nearly all the women workers, have
been ill-provided with medical care. It is a fact that
many of the workers are of necessity improvident, the
wages they earn only suffice for a hand to mouth
existence, and moreover, they are liable to spells of
unemployment. For these reasons they are barely able
to meet the home expenses of even a short illness and
are quite unable to pay the doctor in addition. In
these circumstances they have in the past been compelled
to fall back upon charity for medical attendance
as is evidenced by the crowded condition of the outpatient
rooms of Public Hospitals. The Insurance Act
changes all this; all employed persons are now entitled
as a right to free medical attendance and a weekly
money payment during illness.
The Hospital authorities are naturally afraid that
the new Act will interfere with their receipts from the
charitable public, and the special Chest Hospitals, such