Sir Arthur Newsholme and State Medicine, 1885–1935

A study of Newsholme's role in the transformation of the British public health system.

John M. Eyler (Author)

9780521481861, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 February 1997

444 pages, 46 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.9 x 3.4 cm, 0.75 kg

' … a worthy and careful contribution'. Endeavour

The half century between 1885 and 1935 witnessed an unprecedented expansion of preventive and therapeutic services offered by the state through its local authorities. Behind the expansion in public services were also profound changes in attitudes toward poverty and dependency and toward the political and cultural significance of health; changes in social policy and administration; and changes in the understanding of the causes of disease. This book examines this time of change through the ideas and experiences of one prominent participant, Sir Arthur Newsholme. Professor Eyler draws particular attention to Newsholme's role in constructing a highly successful local health programme; his tenure as the Medical Officer of the Local Government Board in Whitehall where he launched some of its boldest programmes including national health insurance; his post-retirement studies of international health systems; and his statistical and epidemiological studies and their connection to his policy recommendations.

Preface
Part I. The Medical Officer of Health and the Local Sanitary Authority: 1. The new M. O. H. and his town
2. Fact, theory, and the epidemic milieu
3. The urban environment and the M. O. H.'s authority
4. The municipal hospital and the isolation of acute infectious diseases
5. The epidemiology of infected food and the limits of sanitary jurisdiction
6. Tuberculosis: public policy and epidemiology
Part II. Newsholme at the Local Government Board: 7. Poverty, fitness, and the poor law
8. The Local Government Board and the nation's health policy
9. Launching a national tuberculosis program
10. The Great War and the public health enterprise
11. Infant and maternal mortality, interdepartmental conflict, and Newsholme supplanted
Part III. The Old World and the New: Newsholme as Elder Statesman: 12. Newsholme's transatlantic retirement
13. Assessments of a career.

Subject Areas: History of medicine [MBX]