disease, The patients — their environment, work situation, and family -are ignored.
Medical diagnosis concentrates on the illness that the patient shows, It is geared to patching people up and to making disease and sickness endurable, not to really improving health - and in particular not to prevention of illness, A socialist service would have lobrium"..,is an lylic agent to ven throughhe day, uarly in the treator outpatients Jufies in productive ayment....It is a cation with a gly low component Jative action coming to being the ideal lytic for daytime use."
IOBRIUM NOL LEE FORCE PENIS aks like an authoritative scientific endation. What's the betting the nor in the scientific journal it a was financed by Roche such as working environment, the motor car. diet, housing and changing personal behaviour.
SHARP FOCUS
The fight of the bealth service workers for better pay and improved conditions is more than just a struggle over wages. If tirings into sharp focus what kind of bealth service 15 needed.
The han on private patients defends the NHS against the distorting effects of'a pay system which exploits the resources of the licalth service, and leads to the neglect of working class patients. Furthermore, actions such as the ones at Charing Cross, where NUPE members threatened to withdraw all services from private patients shows how to carry out measures of workers'. control.
RESPONSIBILITY
The trade union movement has a responsibility to give its full and unstinting support to the health workers' strugales. By solidarity strikes such as those being planned by the Yorkshire miners it can unite workers around the detence and improvement of the living standards and healch of the entire working class.
The health workers by taking up the struggle for a full and comprehensive health service can show an a practical way why socialist policies are needed to provide a genuine health service. Jocum work in General Practice another abuse has come to light.
blood tests and X-rays for their haematologist, gave an example oratoties. The foes, explains Dr Lawrence, are paid to part-time service.
parasiting off the NHS.
year.
is surprisingly modest about its ised treatment. private patients, giving where needed a fictitious NHS number for their like.
Dr A. Lawrence, a consultant of how consultants thieve from the NHS. Many patients undergoing petients forms. operations in private nursing homes have blood for transfusion prepared and tested for them in the NHS labspecialists, This despite the fact that most, if not all of the testing is done by people employed by the health The provident schemes and the consultants do not just blackmail desperate patients, fiddle NHS cards and neglect their non-paying patients; intravenous infusion, they run their private hospitals by in operating theatre.
MODEST The Nuffield Nursing Homes Trust was set up in 1961 by BUPA.
It has 18 bomes, nearly 600 beds and deals with 21,000 patients each Despite the boasts about the superiority of private medicine, it medical abilities. It says that it 'takes tun of the mill cases and leaves the notice. NHS "to concentrate on highly specialTheir consultants prefer a straightLast year D - was a housewoman in a London hospital. She tells here what a typical few day's work was "Every day i had to see all the petionts on the ward. Again, every day I had to take blood samples and write out the Monday - Mart at 9.0 am, examine ONE DOMIT TOUE DUCES TOE THAL CHY S operating It. Then write out lists for theatre, contact anaesthetist and arrange pre-medication drugs. Take blood samples.
One hour for lunch, taken up with discussion of medical journals.
At 2,0 pm outpatients for three hours - no too broak, From a unse r.u pm finish examining ward patients.
On call until 9 o'clock the naxt morning. Made six wisits to ward needed to see patients. At 2.0 am put up an Tuesday at 8.30 am go round all patients in wards. From 9 until 1 o'clock Afternoon from 2 until 4.0 pm examining new admissions for next operating seasion, Then until 6,0 pm doing ward rounds. Finished then until nast morning.
Wednesday start with two hours of ward rounds with consultant. Then three routine cases to axamine.
Phone call from consultant's priate rooms arrange admission that day for operation next day, find empty NHS bed. range biood to Do ararate at sport Wages May 1973 - £96-92p net for month "On call again all day until 9.0 am the next morning. Had eight patients to examine in casualty, three of them needed emergancy operatione. Spent six hours in operating theatre, throe of them betwen 1 until 4 o'clock in the morning.
Thursday. All-day operating session managed to scrape in a half-hour sand wich lunch. From 6 until 7 o'clock, visit patients and prepare operating fist for the next day.
Friday from arrival at 9.0 am chock patients and give injections for X-ray. After ward rounds got a throe quarter hour lunch.
From half past two until 5.0 pm was in operating theatre. Consultant - busy chap, left at 4,0 pm. Small operations left "Again on call through the night. Hed three calls, one involving a patient needing transfer to intensive care unit, Had a 'cushy night. Got to bed at 1.0 am, No TOEN CHANTIN DIRT Not only do you have to work thesa ridiculously long hours but you have other frustrating things like at the and of one hard day I had to do the admittance of two private patients. Both came in at the last minute for the nant day's opersting session - one arrived at six o'clock and none were emergency cases. That meant I did not get off duty until after B o'clack.
That was not considered a very busy job. In other hospitals you can be on call for amergency admissions every othe night and every weekend.' Red Weekly 25 July 1974 • Page 5
"If at first you don't succeed, try. try again seems to be the motto path for the introduction of bour-