A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK
THOUGH the health debate in the House of Commons on Monday produced no change in the general situation, the Government could still make one concession which would go far towards meeting the difficulty about the basic salary. The doctors' strenuous opposi- tion to the £300 a year to which the capitation fees which will form the main part of a practitioner's income will be added is due to the fact that the £3oo can at any time be increased by mere regula- tion, and to the fear that it will be so increased till in the end the doctors will be turned into full salaried officials. With a view to disposing of that suspicion why should the Minister of Health not give a pledge that there shall be no such increase in the lifetime of the present Parliament, and take Sri early opportunity of bringing in a short amending Bill providing that no such change shall take place in the future except by decision of Parliament? If that hap- pened—and it would involve eating no one's words—the doctors, I should imagine, would be fully satisfied, for the £300 cannot, on any basis of reason, be objected to in itself, but only as a possible first step to a salaried service. Would the Minister accept such a compromise if the doctors did ? That, of course, would have to be explored. My personal belief is that he would.
Previous page
