The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1949-10-14

dDOGt ~ SCNOitdS amer tdklUB OIL
from the station that he had been
struck, not with amazement but
with one Of the granite buildings
itself.
My taxi driver had been a
shade slow in an imaginative
dash across a fhoroughfare and
the next thing I could remember
was crawling out through a brok-
en- side window which at the time
happened 10 be or top. Blood was
flowing considerably faster than
Scotch does in these parts. The
crowd from the Tivoli Theater
furnished a proper dramatic back
drop for my entrance into the land
of kills and bagpipes.
After a passing medical STU
dent had practised his trade. the
police earted me off to the Royal
Infirmary, a magnificent struc-
ture opened about 1885 by tn e
present king of Britain. In the
emergency room an obviously
young female MD with a sooth-
ing burr in her voice took nine
delicate stitches in what she de-
scribed as an unusually thick
skinned head.
We had some vague conversa-
ton regarding the need for in
%ternational cooperation which, at
the time, ! viewed in a favorable
light. The body was then whisked
off to a partnership in Ward Nine
with four other victims" of Ma.
tional Health.
Some little throbbing of the
head kept me from sleeping until
about three in the morning and
promptly at six a. m. I was awak.
ened for a cup of TEA. Long may
Britannia rulel AT eight my
breakfast included an egg donat-
ed by Mr.. Duncan who occupied
the next bed.
The four patients, with only a
slight bit of prodding from me,
launched into a heated two-hour
discussion of the Labor party and
nationalized medicine. One, a bar
tender, denounced everything
that has happened since l945, but
agreed with the others that Labor
would be returned with a reduced
majority at the next election. All
four beneficiaries of the new
health program agreed that med
ical service today is as good as il
has ever been.
The half dozen doctors | ques-
toned in the hospital appeared
| more interested in their work
than in naturalization but, on
the whole. the young MD's and
their assistants seemed favorably
inclined toward the new scheme.
This is natural as youth is more
amenable to change and as it is
much easier today for a youne
physician to get started in a pay.
ing practise.
For n thing the salaries OF
internes tDr. Bulge who sewed
me up recently had her annual
pay raised from $50 to $50 pounds)
and medical assistants have been
increased and new doctors nc
longer have TO pay enormous fees
for established practises.
/ was told that before national
ization it was not unusual for a
retiring physician to sell his prac-
tise for as much as his total take
for from twelve to eighteeH
months-sometimes 25 to 80 thou
sand dollars. The buyer normally
would pay his debt on the INSTALL
ment plan, backed by personal
insurance made out to his cred
itor. Estate medicine provides q
similar retirement plan, but the
new practitioner does not foot the
bill.)
Since the first contact with
British medicine I have been
back to the hospital for X-rays
removal of stitches and general
check-up. The total expense has
been twenty-four cents for tram
fare. My treatment was courteous
kind and efficient. From all OF
this l draw no conclusion except
that the medical service rendered
me was in every way comparable
to the best l could have received
in the United States.