The Three and Sixpenny Doctor
Like all our work these experiences are within ‘living memory.’ You will read how people were unable to afford even 3/6d for the doctor; how women gave birth at home with no medical assistance or care; how families were often large and infant mortality high. One of our contributors speaks of how three of her siblings died in childhood; one of diphtheria, one of scarlet fever, another of dysentery. For some this was the reality of everyday life in Scotland in the 1920s and 1930s. In the current economic climate we sometimes forget just how radical the National Health Service was in post-war Britain and how central and important it now is in all our lives.
Miles Tubb, John McCaughie and Joyce Miller.
August 2008
Living Memory Association.
Health And Disease Before 1900
Intensive Urbanisation and Industrialisation
The economic changes brought about in the nineteenth century resulted in increased injuries and disease. Over-crowding, poor work conditions and under-nourishment contributed to the spread of a number of infectious diseases. The worst outbreak of cholera was in 1832, killing 50% of those infected. Other diseases such as typhus, scarlet fever, diphtheria, St Anthony’s Fire (erysipelas), TB and smallpox were also a problem.
Specialist fever hospitals, such as the Royal Victoria Hospital and East Pilton (later the Northern General) were built, but were unable to cope with the large number of patients.
Self-help and Insurance Schemes
Care of the sick was regarded as a private duty. Voluntary organisations, including friendly societies like the Ancient Order of Foresters and Gardeners’ Friendly Society or professional/work-related insurance schemes, would pay for the treatment of contibutors and their families. But there were many families who could not afford to pay into such schemes and whose access to health care was limited. |
Girl (on right) with Rickets, 1920s (Photo, City of Edinburgh Museums and Galleries Collection)
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Children in Gorgie, about 1900 (Photo, LMA archive)
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State Intervention
Through the late 1800s a number of public health acts were passed to control the spread, and improve the treatment of disease. Policies such as improved water, sewage, housing and vaccination were introduced. These procedures were expensive and not compulsory, and so some town councils were often reluctant to introduce them. |
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