MEDICAL BILL

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24084, 1 October 1941, Page 9

MEDICAL BILL

CLAIMS BY MR. NASH duty of minorities POSITION OF PROFESSION R) WELLINGTON, Tuesday The Government s principles in conned ion with medical benefits were explained bv tl)" Minister of Finance, the Hon W. Nash, in the House ot Representatives to-night. in concluding his speech on the Social Security Amendment Bill. The Minister of Health, the Hon. A. H. Xordmeyer. had announced major alterations to the bill, including a higher basic fee and power tor a doctor to accept a fee from a patient instead of from the Social Security Fund. The amendments would be made in committee. ''The principle the Government has in mind all the time is a single one," slid Mr. Xash. "It is to see that everybody, no matter who they are, should have' the attention they require and that they should not go short oi that attention because they have not the money to pay for it; that the person aiving that attention shall be entirely free to give it according to his own tvsv and^his,interpretation of the profession to which he belongs." Reply to Archdeacon Bullock Emphasising the importance of the community having the right to criticise Parliament and the hills coining before it Mr" Nash said the criticism of the bill "bv Archdeacon Bullock had hardly anv relevance to the principles ol the bill The first point by Archdeacon Bullock was that State control of the medical service would be deleterious and unfair in practice and undemocratic in principle. In 198S the greatest authority, Sir Henry Bracketibury. said he saw no reason why a universal system in this Dominion should have any effect whatever upon the treatment of the patient from the health point of view. There was not a word in the bill to affect medical practice except to make it higher. Mr. Nash continued. It was not intended in a shadow of degree to interfere with the standards of practice. It was impossible to work democracy without the consent of democracy, and it was important that some element of agreement should come from the minorities when majorities Eiaid certain things were necessary in the interest of the community as a whole. Democratic Procedure Mr. W. A. Bodkin (Opposition— Central Otagol: Where are tha rights of the minority here? "If we all have the complete individualism suggested by the questioner the ultimate will be anarchv." replied the Minister. While majorities must rule inside democratic procedure, they must think out the implications on the minority and give freedom to the rights of the minority. When a service was determined it was the duty of every minority, whether miner, waterside worker or medical practitioner, to render the service and find out the best way to make it work. There was not a word in the bill which said that the State was to assume a monopoly of medical practice. maintenance or treatment, said Mr. Nash. The only thing in the bill was how that practice should be paid for. The profession could work in its own way and determine what treatment was to be given and how it was to be given. The bill implied thai they should get their income from the whole of the people, not a few. Archdeacon Bullock had said that unfortunately the question had become one of party politics. The Government had rot made it so. Negotiations with Doctors It was unfair to say that the Government had not talked to the doctors about the scheme. Mr. Nash added. On December 19, 1938, the British Medical Association had offered a scheme based on payment for services rendered. yet denunciation had rung throughout the country in the last fortnight because the bill specifically provided for payment for services rendered. '"We have tried to work out this bill to get a section of the community that we respect as men to work as a body and give the service the community must have," the Minister said. "All that remains now is the form in which they shall he paid for that service. It is recognised that the people are entitled to the service. That is not party politics: it is plain, quiet, deliberate negotiation to try to find a Way." Socialisation Denied After that offer. Dr. Jamieson and Dr. Lynch discussed the regulations for payment for service with officers of the Health Department, the Minister added. They went back', and then said the doctors would not co-operate, as they did not like the scheme. Discussions had been held continuously with the British Medical Association. The Government had done everything for four years to find a means of getting in touch with everyone. Mr. Bodkin asked if the bill did not socialise the medical profession. Mr. Nash: It does not in any way interfere with the rights of practice. Mr. Bodkin: It makes the fee so low that it makes it unacceptable. Mr. Nash said he thought there was a case for differentiation in fees for service at the surgery and at the home, and that more should be paid for night calls. , Answering statements that the bill interfered with the freedom of choice of doctor, lie said the idea of fee-for-service was that a patient could go to or call a doctor at any time and the Si:ate had to pay. The objection to regimentation was got over by the Minister of Health stating that the Government would pay the patient. The Minister's Belief "I believe the doctors will work this Dill," Mr. Nash said. "When the principles are understood fully we will get along all right." Already 13.500 members of friendly fiocieties had applied for reimbursement and payment would be made, Mr. Nasli said. In 1938 the present Prime Minister had written to Dr. Jamieson that remuneration was a matter upon which the Government was willing to enter into immediate discussion, and that the aggregate income should be better than it was then. The profession was asked to decide itself the method of distributing the a<; iiregate income. COERCION DENIED MR. GARB'S CONTENTIONS WELLINGTON. Tuesday "There is not one iota of justification fW the suggestion that there is any coercion in this bill." said Mr. C. L. Urr (Gov ernment—Timaru) during the debate on the Social Security Amendment Bill in the House to-night. -This hill does not make the doctors state servants," he said. "It merely guarantees them adequate remuneration . ensures that their service will be available to all."