15 - 17 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9SH
Wednesday, 6th February 2013, 12.45 pm - 2.00 pm
Urban hospitals before the NHS: finance, specialisation and integration in provincial England
Barry Doyle
(University of Huddersfield)
The pre-history of the NHS remains a contentious topic. Initial social democratic interpretations shaped by the founders of the system tended to emphasis the weak finances, poor coordination and barriers to specialist development inherent in the voluntary/municipal system. Recent research has created a more nuanced understanding of these three areas, though divergent interpretations remain. This paper will explore these topics through case studies of the hospital systems of two of England's largest cities - Leeds and Sheffield - in the thirty years before the establishment of the NHS. Based on extensive research in the archives of hospitals, funding schemes, councils and other voluntary organisations, it will argue that provision in the big cities was financially sound, increasingly specialised and highly integrated. Moreover, these services were not exceptional but, by operating at a regional level, they met the needs of much larger populations than those inside the city boundaries. Indeed, the limitations on the system were increasingly focused on the narrow remit of council provision - which was prevented from serving a regional need - than on apparent jealous rivalries between voluntary providers.
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