Medicine 19th and 20th Century-Public Health

Question 1

Which disease caused a large number of deaths during the 19th Century?

Answer 1

Cholera

Question 2

What happened to towns during the Industrial Revolution?

Answer 2

They grew massively, this led to overcrowding and poor living conditions for the working class

Question 3

Why was nothing really done about public health in the early 19th century?

Answer 3

• Governments did not think it was their responsibility, they had a Laissez-faire attitude.
• It was difficult to get fresh food into the towns
• There was a charge for medical care and doctors wanted to make money.
• Germ theory had not been published
• There was a belief that people should help themselves.

Question 4

When did Edwin Chadwick publish his ‘Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population’?

Answer 4

1842

Question 5

What did Chadwick find out about the working class?

Answer 5

They live in overcrowded dirty conditions and this causes illness. Many people are too sick too work and many people would have to pay higher taxes to help the poor.

Question 6

Give two suggestions made by Chadwick

Answer 6

Improving drainage and sewers, removing refuse from the street, providing clean water, appointing medical officers to check reforms.

Question 7

What did Chadwick’s report lead to?

Answer 7

The Public Health Act 1848

Question 8

What was one limitation of Chadwick’s work?

Answer 8

He still believed in miasma (bad air), some councils did not change anything even after the second Public Health Act of 1875.

Question 9

Which other individual helped prove the link between unhealthy living conditions and high death rate?

Answer 9

William Farr-he collected information about births, deaths and marriages.

Question 10

What did John Snow say about cholera in 1849?

Answer 10

It was spread by dirty water and not bad air.

Question 11

How did John Snow prove that cholera was spread by dirty water?

Answer 11

He mapped out deaths around his surgery on Broad Street. This resulted in the removal of the pump handle from the water pump in Broad street.

Question 12

What was the hot summer of 1858 also known as?

Answer 12

The Great Stink

Question 13

What was the Reform Act 1867?

Answer 13

This gave working men the vote

Question 14

Which scientist had an impact on public health?

Answer 14

Louis Pasteur’s germ theory

Question 15

What was the result of the Great Stink?

Answer 15

The Great Clean-up-the Public Health Act of 1875 made it compulsory for local councils to improve sewers and drainage. Other laws were passed to also improve standard of living.

Question 16

What was built in 1865 by Joseph Bazalgette?

Answer 16

He designed and built London’s sewer system.

Question 17

What other inventions also helped public health to improve?

Answer 17

The flushing lavatory and soap.

Question 18

Which political party was elected in 1906?

Answer 18

The Liberals

Question 19

Which social reformer completed a study on the conditions of the working class in York?

Answer 19

Seebohm Rowntree

Question 20

Which war impacted the Government’s decision to act on public health?

Answer 20

Boer war-realised that the nation was unfit and couldn’t protect the country, social reformers.

Question 21

Which act gave money to the elderly?

Answer 21

1909 Old Age Pensions Act

Question 22

Which act provided meals for children?

Answer 22

1906-provision of school meals

Question 23

Which act was set up in 1911 that enabled workers to get medical help and sick pay if they could not afford to work?

Answer 23

1911-National Insurance Act-workers paid into this and in return they would get sick pay and medical help.

Question 24

Why did the government introduce a Housing Act in 1919?

Answer 24

They had promised workers fit for heroes following the First World War.

Question 25

What was the name of the report published in 1942 that showed that Britain still had a number of social problems?

Answer 25

The Beveridge Report

Question 26

When was the NHS (National Health Service) set up?

Answer 26

1948

Question 27

Why did some people oppose the NHS?

Answer 27

Doctors didn’t want to lose money and freedom to treat people who paid them, some people believed people were poor due to laziness, some Local councils did not want the government to get involved.

Question 28

Which war did Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale get involved in?

Answer 28

The Crimean War

Question 29

Who changed the way that hospitals were run during the Crimean War?

Answer 29

Florence Nightingale

Question 30

Who treated soldiers on the battlefield in the Crimea?

Answer 30

Mary Seacole

Question 31

What else helped hospitals to change?

Answer 31

technology-better sewer systems, individual genius-Pasteur’s germ theory

Question 32

How far does this source prove there were problems with public health at the beginning of the nineteenth century?

Answer 32

Rubbish in the street, dirty water, no sewers

Question 33

What is the message of this source?

Answer 33

This source was published to show people that dirty water from the pumps caused cholera and that people needed to act.

Question 34

Which Liberal MP helped bring in the National Insurance Act in 1911 and was later to become the Prime Minister of Britain?

Answer 34

David Lloyd-George.