OFFER TO DOCTORS

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 7, 3 October 1941, Page 8

OFFER TO DOCTORS

Tribunal Under First Scheme Only An offer that, if the doctors would accept the original proposal that they should go to the Social Security Department for full payment of their fees, their request for a tribunal to fix the amount of those fees would be granted, was made by' the Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser. ‘‘lf the medical profession agree to operate the No. 1 proposal that they should go to the department for payment, then their claim for a tribunal would be valid, because the relationship would be between the doctor and the State,” said Mr. Fraser. "If the profession adopt that course the question of a tribunal will be fairly and favourably,- considered, and. I can say.

that it will be granted. But the payment would have to be in full settlement. The tribunal would have no purpose unless it fixed the full amount of the fee. Under the other method, however, the doctor does not claim from the Social Security Department. An amount is refunded to the patient on presentation by him of a receipt. There is no relationship between the doctor and the State, and, therefore, no room for a tribunal. Also the payment is not put forward as the full amount of the fee. The full amount is left to the patient and the doctor to decide. The liberty the doctors wanted is fully left to them.” Mr. W. A. Bodkin (Opposition, Central Otago) : The balance is irrecoverable in law. Mr. Fraser: I am coming to that point in a moment. It was stupid to say that an effort had been made’ to bribe the doctors, said Mr. Fraser. The question of the fee was not raised. The Government had to decide what was a fair amount, and the nearest estimate it could make was 7/6. Some said that was far too generous, but there were no authentic facts and figures to go on, and it seemed wisdom to err on the side of generosity rather than parsimony. Referring to the right of doctors to recover fees at law, the Prime Minister said he understood that Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons, and Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians had a tacit agreement not to collect fees at law. “I believe that the majority of doctors in New Zealand would not dream of suing for their fees,” he said. “There is a good relationship between doctors and patients, and I think it is a good thing that that should be maintained. One of the charges brought against the first proposal was that it would destroy that relationship, but that difficulty has been removed. If that relationship is so cordial and almost sacred, what need is there for recourse to law? The medical profession cannot put up a strong case for the right to go to the courts.” NOT NEEDED NOW Opposition Withdraws Amendment An amendment to the Social Security’. Amendment Bill, moved by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Holland, when the debate opened on the night of September 11, was withdrawn by the Opposition last night. The announcement was ma'de by Mr. Harker (Opposition, WaipaVAi), who said that the Opposition had decided not to proceed with it. The Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser, subsequently congratulated the Opposition on its discretion. He asked if the Leader of the Opposition would explain why this had been done. Mr. Holland: The explanation is that the ajneifdments have given us what we asked for. Mr. Osborne (Government, Onehunga) : You’re funking an election. Mr. Fraser said he could see nothing in the amendments to the Bill that tallied with Mr. Holland’s amendment, but he still congratulated the Opposition on the course it had taken. Mr. Holland said that if he were given an opportunity, he would explain in full the reasons for the Opposition’s action.