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Original poster

What was life like before the NHS?

161 replies

Tatami · 06/07/2023 19:05

The NHS turned 75 yesterday. It got me thinking about what was life like before the NHS. I'm most interested in the 1920s and 30s, when my Grandmothers would have been born. Would my Great-Grandmothers and their generation most likely have given birth at home, paid a midwife or just relied on the wisdom of a relative or friend? They weren't at all wealthy. Were working men given priority for any free or charitable care? Is there a good book or any records where I can find out more? Thank you.

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6
BodgerLovesMashedPotato · 09/07/2023 02:52

IWFH · 08/07/2023 08:27

My mother was born in the early 1920s and she told me how as a young girl she had a cut on her lower leg which became infected. The doctor was called only when she had a fever and it had tracked up to her groin area. The doctor knew their financial situation (6 kids, her father was laid off in 1929 in the recession and didn't work full time again until the mid 1930s) and he didn't charge them. He apparently winked at my mum on the way our and said he'd add half a crown to the bill of his next client who could pay.
So pre NHS if you were poor, you only called the doctor in an absolute emergency, and if your doctor wasn't charitable (as mum's family doctor fortunately was) you didn't get treatment and you risked death, or as has been mentioned above you paid in installments.
I know my mum's story sounds all a bit like The Railway Children, but I'd guess that quite a few doctors worked in this way

That's not charitable, that's frauding/ripping off someone because you assume or think they're 'more able to pay'😢

KentuckyFriedChicken83 · 09/07/2023 04:31

This thread has been a real eye opener and puts into perspective how beneficial the NHS is. Sure, it's not perfect and has its issues but compared to the alternative, it is a good thing.

The stories shared on here have been really interesting, thanks to those who have shared. The story about putting the stillborn baby on the fire was horrific though.

I have downloaded the recommended book 'The Citadel'. It looks really good and I love historical things like that.

Tyrionapproach · 09/07/2023 04:53

I don't think anyone has suggested the Twopence to Cross the Mersey autobiographical books by Helen Forrester yet, set on Merseyside, her dad took the family back there after he and her mother went bankrupt in the 1930s. There are four books, covering the early 1930s up to about the end of WWII and they're an account of what pre-NHS life was like for a family with no money (and, in the case of her parents, levels of fecklessness, naivety, and entitlement that are breathtaking).

Original poster
Tatami · 09/07/2023 08:18

Ladybird69 · 09/07/2023 02:15

@Tatami im up watching tv and there’s a 10 part series starting at 2.40am on bbc 4 called Health before the NHS. The road to recovery. It’s about the early 20th century. I thought you would find it interesting.

Thank you very much!

OP posts:
Original poster
Tatami · 09/07/2023 08:22

Thomasina79 · 08/07/2023 15:06

My grandma lost all five of her sisters from scarlet fever in one week

How truly terrible. Of all the moving, heart breaking stories on here, this one has stopped me in my tracks.

OP posts:
EmeraldFox · 09/07/2023 08:32

BodgerLovesMashedPotato · 09/07/2023 02:52

That's not charitable, that's frauding/ripping off someone because you assume or think they're 'more able to pay'😢

Show quote history

Just sounds like sliding scale to me. I'd say it would have been more obvious from homes and jobs what people could afford to pay back then.

Sugarfree23 · 09/07/2023 13:05

EmeraldFox · 09/07/2023 08:32

Just sounds like sliding scale to me. I'd say it would have been more obvious from homes and jobs what people could afford to pay back then.

Show quote history

Adding the money to another person's bill might have been said to make the mum feel better about accepting his charity but not actually carried out.

People had pride, and didn't want to accept charity. When benefits were introduced some still saw it as charity. Not an entitlement.

UnfortunateTypo · 09/07/2023 15:56

My Great Grandmother also lost three daughters to Scarlet Fever over a month in 1901. I absolutely freaked out when DD caught it back in 2010. The GP looked at me utterly bemused and gave her antibiotics for a week. We are so lucky now.

CountingMareep · 10/07/2023 23:00

There is an argument that scarlet fever itself became less virulent in the mid 20th century, even before antibiotics became more widely used.

That said, a family friend who is now in her 80s had a sister who died from a severe ear infection as a baby during the war. 🥲Antibiotics were in short supply then.

MargaretThursday · 11/07/2023 07:56

CountingMareep · 10/07/2023 23:00

There is an argument that scarlet fever itself became less virulent in the mid 20th century, even before antibiotics became more widely used.

That said, a family friend who is now in her 80s had a sister who died from a severe ear infection as a baby during the war. 🥲Antibiotics were in short supply then.

I was told that too when the dc had it.

FijiSea · 11/07/2023 11:39

Tyrionapproach · 09/07/2023 04:53

I don't think anyone has suggested the Twopence to Cross the Mersey autobiographical books by Helen Forrester yet, set on Merseyside, her dad took the family back there after he and her mother went bankrupt in the 1930s. There are four books, covering the early 1930s up to about the end of WWII and they're an account of what pre-NHS life was like for a family with no money (and, in the case of her parents, levels of fecklessness, naivety, and entitlement that are breathtaking).

I mentioned them up thread , they are a very good autobiographical picture of the time and absolutely heart wrenching to read.

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