Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-06-10

Most important Of these: the as
sumption that if good medical
care were made available to ev-
eryone, the general health would
improve and the cost of medical
treatment would go down. The
exact opposite has, of course, been
the case. Every success in pro-
longing life simply means that
there will eventually be more sick
ness later on. And the total cost
Of the program has climbed in
eXorably from the beginning.
Infant Mortality Rates
1t is in fact impossible to prove
on the basis of IL years expert
ence that there has been any i'm
provement in the national health
attributable to the system itself.
Infant and maternal mortality
rates have fallen in Britain since
the war in about the same pro-
portion as they have fallen in all
induStrialized countries of the
West. And though some diseases
notably tuberculosis - have
dropped dramatically, this is al
most certainly the result of new
antibiotics rather than the sys-
tenn by which they are distributed.
Perhaps in time some more con-
vincing statistics may be produced
to support the widespread convic-
ton in England that the National
Health Service has made the
nation as a whole healthier, hap
pier and more productive. For the
time being, however. it is hard to
disagree with Prof. D. S. Lees,
senior lecturer in economics at the
University College of North Stat
fordShire, that medical care is
only one among many factors
making for improved health and
it may not be the most impor-
tant."
An equally important question
and equally hard to answer
with assurance lis whether the
quality of medical care in Britain
has improved or deteriorated over
the last IL years.
Quite certainly, the answer is
not to be found in the natural
intuitive belief of most English
men that they have "the best
medical services in the world" 1t
is probably not to be found either
in the common complaints about
the system by both patients and
doctors.
From the doctors standpoint,
the most common complaint is
that he is showed under by pa
tients who have nothing really
wrong with them and no inhibi-
tionS whatever about coming in
with the most trivial complaint.
The number of these frivolous pa
tents" is undoubtedly a major
problem of the system, leading
often to serious waste of the doc
tors time to the detriment of
patients who are really i'll. One
widespread criticism is that gen.
eral practitioners under the
health service are little more than
pill dispensers. Where there is
even a suspicion of serious illness,
the patient can be easily passed
along to a specialist.
Source Of Main Complaint
The patients major complaints
arise from the same problem. Fol
them, it is a matter of endless
waiting in a doctors antechamberS
for the few minutes of time that
he will eventually be able to spare
them. There is little chance for
careful, leisurely examination. In
innate doctor patient relation
ships, or what used to be called
a bedside manner" is impossible.
On the other hand, as one sup
porter of the system points out,
1T may be preferable to have
your life saved by a specialist
whose name you didn't quite
catch than to die with the old
family doctor sitting faithfully at
the bedside"
The waiting problem is particu-
larly acute when it comes to the