2B - Public Health, 1945-1979 Flashcards
What was the NHS act of 1946 based on the principles of?
Universal healthcare for all
Comprehensive: curative and preventative, mental and physical healthcare, hospital care, general practice surgeries, dental care and opticians
Free from the point of delivery, paid by direct taxation
What compromises were agreed to to get doctors on board of the NHS?
Consultants allowed to work private, allocated beds for private
GPs weren’t local authority employees
Regional health boards appointed not elected
Meant that the NHS was run by privileged groups
How was the early NHS structured?
Hospital services, primary care and community services - tripartite system
Why didn’t the early NHS lead to equal provision?
NHS inherited existing infrastructure - distributed unequally across the country
What did the NHS consist of in 1948?
Made up of 3100 hospitals with 550,000 beds, employing 360,000 staff
What was the Hospital Plan Act 1962?
90 new hospitals, redesign of 134 hospitals, refurbishment of 356 hospitals
What was the NHS Reorganisation Act of 1973?
New management structure to NHS, led to growth in management costs
What was the Resource Allocation Working Party?
1974-76 - identified areas of health deprivation, allocated resources to reflect the needs of different communities
How did the NHS improve life expectancy?
- 8 years for men to 71 years
70. 1 years for women to 77 years
What did the Merrison Report argue in 1979?
Argued that hospitals received 70% of NHS funding whereas other services received less
What was the flaw with the 1962 Hospital Plan Act?
Mostly spent in London
How many of WC GP surgeries had been built after 1900 in comparison to MC?
20% vs 50%
How did budget allocations compare for the MC and WC?
MC - £4.98 per head vs £3.19 per head for WC
What did the Black Report 1980 highlight?
WC women twice as likely to die in childbirth than MC
Unskilled working men twice as likely to die before 65 than MC
When was the birth control pill invented?
1961
What did the 1967 Abortion Act do?
Gave right to terminate pregnancy if two typically male doctors agreed, provision reflected belief of doctors
What % of abortions were done in the private secto between 1968-1978?
58% suggesting they were more available to MC women
How many female nurses recruited in 1948?
54,000
What did the 1959 Mental Health Act impose and what effect did it have?
new terminology, removed judges from the process, open door policy for voluntary sessions - Adverse effect - 33% of hospital beds available for them, meant they went to non specialist hospitals
How many misconduct inquiries were made into mental health hospitals in 1967-1981?
25 separate inquiries into misconduct
How did treatments expand between 1948-1964?
Distribution of prescriptions doubled
250% more drugs available in 1964 than in 1951
1964 - vaccines for TB, diphtheria, polio, whooping cough and tetanus
How did spending increase 1960-1975?
Spending increased 4.5% each year
From 1960, what was the NHS able to provide?
Kidney dialysis
Catheters
Organ transplants
How many more people at retirement age in 1971 compared to 1951?
2 million
What major surgery had taken place by 1979?
800 kidney transplants in 1979
5000 heart bypass operations in 1979
