How did healthcare develop between 1918 and 1945?

Learning objective – to be able to explain developments in interwar British healthcare. I can describe the key features of interwar British healthcare. Grade D I can explain the key developments of interwar British healthcare. Grade B I can explain and assess the impact of interwar British healthcare. Grade A

What was the nature of healthcare provision 1918? Healthcare provision was patchy and dependent on the effectiveness of your local authority up to 1945. Important developments in healthcare provision up to 1918 were – The National Insurance scheme which provided limited sick pay. Numerous charitable services that provided healthcare. Poor Law Hospitals. Workhouses often had their own infirmaries.

How did a consensus develop over healthcare in the interwar years? A growing idea was that government should play a leading role in healthcare provision and investment should be made in medical advances building upon the progress made in the nineteenth century. Government should also develop a network of hospitals and rationing healthcare. Although there was disagreement and debate about the extent of government intervention, there was a broad agreement that government spending and co-ordination of healthcare provision was critically important.

Why was a Ministry of Health formed in 1919? In 1919, a new Ministry of Health was created and was responsible for the co-ordination of healthcare at a local level and administering funds made available from the National Insurance scheme.

What did the Local Government Act of 1929 do to support healthcare? The Local Government Act of 1929 passed – Poor Law Hospitals were now in the hands of local government who convert them into local hospitals. Local government was now responsible for running key healthcare services, such as dentistry and schools’ medical services. This Act made local government responsible for co-ordinating healthcare provision.

How did healthcare provision expand in after the Local Government Act? Various forms of hospital care developed, such as specialist teaching hospitals. GPs or ‘Panel Doctors’ treated more people through the National Insurance Scheme. However, less than half the population were insured against illness and many relied upon traditional remedies and over the counter medicines. However, healthcare was improving – a key indicator, infant mortality rates were falling although maternal mortality rates remained high in working class areas. By 1939, more groups, such as writers for The Lancet, were advocating a national health service.

What was the impact of the Second World War on healthcare provision? The Second World War helped to create a consensus on healthcare reform which was underpinned by the introduction of a national emergency healthcare system introduced to treat casualties from the Blitz. The Emergency Medical Service was established in 1939 to provide first aid for air raid casualties and to dictate to hospitals health provision. It allowed for resources to be pooled and saw a changing attitude in the medical profession who previously wanted to stay independent of the government who were persuaded by government funding for resources and wages. The Emergency Medical Service provided the blueprint for the National Health Service established after the war.

The five development cards all relate to the exam question – To what extent did health care provision in Britain improve in the years 1918 and 1945? Use your knowledge to list the cards in order of significance and beside each card write a brief explanation of their importance.

Task – How far did health care provision improve in the years 1918-39? Below is a series of assertions. Read the exam question above and then add a justification to each of the assertions to turn it into an argument. There were partial improvements in health care provision between the wars because ..... Health care provision between the wars improved because ..... Health care provision was only partial and adversely affected general improvements in the sense that ..... In many ways health care provision saw little improvement between the wars because .......

Plenary – My Brain Subheading – My Brain Draw an outline of your brain. Fill your drawn brain with all the things you have learnt in this lesson. This can be in the form of key words, drawings, bullet points, lists – anything you like so long as it summarises your learning and that others can understand it.