NOT ACCEPTABLE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 211, 6 September 1941, Page 6

NOT ACCEPTABLE

NOTICEABLE OMISSIONS

BRANCH PRESIDENT'S VIEWS

"The bill will require radical alteration before it will meet with the approval of the profession,' said Dr. L. G. Drury, president of the Auckland branch of the British Medical Association to-day when asked to comment on the Social Security Amendment Bill. "Some of the most noticeable omissions are the absence of any provision for a doctor or a patient to continue their own private arrangements, as at present, if either or both desire to do so," he continued. "No mention has been made regarding specialist or consultant services, and no notice has been taken of the B.M.A.'s request for the payment of a small fee by the patient, when able to do so, to the Social Security fund for each consultation.

"No heed has been given to our request that men on active service should be consulted regarding this measure, or, alternatively, that this medical service should not be introduced until after the war. The omissions concern matters which are fundamental in the minds of the profession, and render the bill impossible of approval even to those disposed to think that some change in medical practice in the future is desirable and inevitable."

Dr. Drury added that a meeting of the branch would be held next Wednesda3 r to discuss the bill.