B.M.A. CHAIRMAN CLARIFIES HEALTH SERVICE DETAILS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23218, 1 April 1950, Page 6

B.M.A. CHAIRMAN CLARIFIES HEALTH SERVICE DETAILS

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, April I. An explanation of important points in the medical services system under the Social Security Amendment Act was made yesterday by Dr.. J.O. Mercer, chairman of the council of the New Zealand branch of the British Medical Association. Dr. Mercer said that in view of the statement made yesterday by the Minister of Health on proposed changes there were several important points which should be made clear to

“In (lie first place the refund system of practice, whereby the medical practitioner is in no way dependent upon the State for his fees, will as in the past, be used by all doctors who so desire and there are some hundreds of these in New Zealand," said Dr. Mercer. “Furthermore there is nothing to prevent any doctor from continuing the use of the refund system, or changing to this mode of practice in future should he so wish.

“Secondly the new system, for which the commencing date has not yet been fixed, envisages that patients, whereever this is reasonable, will bear a proportion of the total fees charged by their doctors. .

“The restoration of the civil right of a doctor to use of the courts to recover his fees is viewed with great satisfaction by the profession. Members have always regarded this deliberate exclusion as a barrier to the co-operation between the State and the profession which is so necessary for the maintenance of standards of medical practice in any national scheme. “The British Medical Association has every confidence that co-operation with the Government is a firmly established fact and that this state of affairs will be maintained in future.”