Health Centres
Sir Farquhar Buzzard, the new Physician-in-Ordinary to the King, on Tuesday gave to the British Medical Association at Oxford a presidential address of more than ordinary interest. He said that at the present time the campaign against disease in this country was wasteful and badly organised. The growth of national, civic and municipal institutions has provided a variety of health and medical services which in many cases overlap and duplicate each other, while the general practitioner is unable to apply his services in the most useful and economical manner. As a solution to the problem, Sir Farquhar advocated the establishment throughout the country of health centres which should co-ordinate all the preservative, creative and preventive health services in their areas. The advantage to the general practitioner of working in conjunction with such an institution is clear, and it is only through such centres that proper attention can be given to that aspect of medical work which offers the greatest possi- bility of advancing the general health of the country— the detection and care of small variations from normal health which usually do not demand medical attention. In addition, such centres would offer invaluable oppor- tunities for, the research work which at present is gravely neglected.
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