19th Century Health Care Essay

Even for those countries with advanced comprehensive welfare systems, there has always been a problem about how society treats the poor, the needy or the sick. During the 19th and beginning of 20th Centuries an extension by way of amendments to the already existing Poor Law’s sought to identify ways and means of dealing with those who for a variety of reasons required help. Emanating from religious traditions, the Church as part of the established State, attempted to provide for the needy through the Parish structure, whereby charity was offered to the deserving; for example, the need or issue occurred through no fault of the sufferer and by demonstrating an innate goodness through continual and persistent religious observance, the Church would support those it deemed as worthy. In addition, the use of the workhouse removed people from communities where they were expected to work hard for whatever relief they were given, usually minimal food.
As those in power began to question this approach, political developments such as the Reform Act (1834) began to challenge the structures to deal with such issues by focused upon developing public health, local government, education and a more comprehensive approach to health services. As part of
Nevertheless, the poorest remained vulnerable as they could not afford medical treatment. As mentioned before, in the 19th-century medical care was mainly private or voluntary; and therefore, ill health was commonplace and the prime root of pauperism. The authorities initiated the development of 'infirmaries' for ill people. The demand for the infirmaries was at first counterattacked by a wary emphasis on the humiliation of pauperism, of which the legal result was the loss of the vote. As a consequence, the Poor-law was abolished in 1940’s. As for hospitals, they were transferred from being overseen by the Poor Law to being managed by local authority