Is this country full of hypochondriacs ; or full of
people who like getting something for (as they think) nothing ; or full of people who really need medical attention and have never been able to afford it before ? The questions are prompted by what I have heard of the experiences of various doctors working under the Health Service Act. They are obviously being flooded with preposterous requests --e.g. to render services for which hitherto a chiropodist has had to be paid—and the demand for spectacles, as everyone knows, is incredible ; this may well represent the satisfaction of a real need. One incident I can vouch for. A doctor on returning home in the evening found an urgent summons from a former private patient, Mrs. X, some distance away. In spite of weariness the journey was immediately undertaken. To the doctor's surprise the door was opened by Mrs. X herself. "But I imagined you were in bed." "Oh no, there's nothing wrong with me. I was just testing to see whether the new service really worked." I should hope it wouldn't work for that particular patient again.
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