Tredegar Medical Aid Society was founded in Tredegar in South Wales. In return for contributions from its members it provided health care free at the point of use. This society contributed the model which established the British National Health Service. [1] According to Colin Ward, the model had "evolved from the vast network of friendly societies and mutual aid organisations that had sprung up through working class self-help in the 19th century." [2]
In 1890, the Tredegar Workmen's Medical Aid and Sick Relief Fund was formed by a merger of a large number of local benevolent societies in Tredegar, [1] including one society which provided medical benefits and funeral expenses to its 3,000 members.
The local Cottage Hospital was established in 1904 following a proposal made at the society in 1901. The hospital's land had been funded by Lord Tredegar after a separate committee of thirty had been formed to organise the hospital's establishment. The construction costs were paid by the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company and other local philanthropists, whilst the running of the hospital was underwritten by the ironworkers. Each worker agreed to contribute a halfpenny per week, and in 1909 this was increased to a penny per week. [1]
By June 1911 the society was well regarded nationally. A delegation which included Sir Arthur Markham Bt. and T. Richards MP [3] concluded that "the Tredegar Workmen's Medical Aid and Sick Relief Fund was far in advance and more beneficial in respect to its members than any of the other societies." The visit had been organised because of the 1911 Invalidity Bill [ National Insurance Act 1911? ], which increased the rights of workers in the event of them being unable to work. The Tredegar society made large changes that year as the new legislation meant they had to stop giving sick pay of two shillings per week. The society converted itself into a benevolent society, but substantially retained its aims. It could now claim money from the Government to supplement its members' contributions. [1]
In the same year the society employed Dr ETH Davies as their lead medic, and the society became the Tredegar Workmen's Medical Aid Society. Dr Davies was to be a key part of the society for the next 38 years. He was said to be the most qualified medical person in Wales when he won a ballot for his appointment. Dr Davies won due to grassroots support: he achieved 2,584 votes against 1,804 votes for his competitor.
In 1915, the Medical Aid Society appointed Walter Conway as its secretary. The development of the society's work is attributed to the energy and commitment of Conway, who served as its secretary until his death in 1933. [4] The Medical Society was already employing doctors under its Medical Supertendant[ clarification needed ], but it also went on to open offices and a dentists' and a central surgery. [5]
Conway enabled the Society to provide medical services to 20,000 local inhabitants. By 1925 the society purchased the redundant Palace cinema and converted it into an additional surgery, as well as establishing space for their own dental mechanic. [6]
The society employed Dr A.J. Cronin, who depicted the Society in his novel The Citadel. There were similar societies in the South Wales valleys and in England. It was the model that Aneurin Bevan used for the National Health Service while he was Minister of Health in the post-war Labour government.
By 1933 the Society was supplying the medical needs of 95% of the local population. The society employed five doctors, two dentists with a mechanic[ clarification needed ] each, pharmacy dispensers and assistants, and a nurse. Not only did the society see to[ clarification needed ] the medical expenses, but it also provided good wages and conditions for its staff. The doctors were allowed some private work, which again was a model followed within the National Health Service when it was established just over a decade after Conway died. [7]
In 1948, the society began to be a victim of its own success when Aneurin Bevan, who by then was not only the local MP but also the Minister of Health, launched the National Health Service.
Demand for the Tredegar scheme fell when the NHS was launched, but the society still continued to fulfil what remained of its role.[ i.e. what? ] It tried for a while to continue to fund private care for its members, but abandoned this as unaffordable.
In 1994 the society was wound up. It still had 114 members who were paid 18p each week towards their medical expenses. The society's remaining funds were contributed to the local hospital. [1]
Aneurin "Nye" Bevan PC was a Welsh Labour Party politician, noted for spearheading the creation of the British National Health Service during his tenure as Minister of Health in Clement Attlee's government. He is also known for his wider contribution to the founding of the British welfare state. He was first elected as MP for Ebbw Vale in 1929, and used his Parliamentary platform to make a number of influential criticisms of Winston Churchill and his government during the Second World War. Before entering Parliament, Bevan was involved in miners' union politics and was a leading figure in the 1926 general strike. Bevan is widely regarded as one of the most influential left-wing politicians in British history.
Archibald Joseph Cronin, known as A. J. Cronin, was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known novel is The Citadel (1937), about a Scottish physician who serves in a Welsh mining village before achieving success in London, where he becomes disillusioned about the venality and incompetence of some doctors. Cronin knew both areas, as a medical inspector of mines and as a physician in Harley Street. The book exposed unfairness and malpractice in British medicine and helped to inspire the National Health Service.
Tredegar is a town and community situated on the banks of the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in the southeast of Wales. Within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the Industrial Revolution in Wales. The relevant wards collectively listed the town's population as 15,103 in the UK 2011 census.
The Citadel is a novel by A. J. Cronin, first published in 1937, which was groundbreaking in its treatment of the contentious subject of medical ethics. It has been credited with laying the foundation in Britain for the introduction of the NHS a decade later.
The Socialist Health Association is a socialist medical association based in the United Kingdom. It is affiliated to the Labour Party as a socialist society.
The Royal Gwent Hospital is a local general hospital in the city of Newport. It is managed by the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. Since 2020, the hospital no longer has a full Emergency Department, and redirects those with a serious illness or injury to call 999 or go to attend the Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran. The Royal Gwent hospital has a 24-hour Minor Injuries Unit.
County Hospital is a community hospital in Griffithstown in the county borough of Torfaen, Wales. It is often referred to locally as Panteg Hospital. It is managed by the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.
Aberbargoed Hospital was a community hospital in Aberbargoed, Caerphilly County Borough, Wales. It was managed by the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.
Redwood Memorial Hospital was a community hospital in Rhymney, Wales, managed by the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. It closed in July 2013, and services are now offered through the Rhymney Integrated Health & Social Care Centre.
Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust was an NHS Trust in South East Wales.
Oakdale is a large village in Caerphilly county borough, Wales, 9½ miles north of Caerphilly itself, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. Situated in the Sirhowy valley, it is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of Blackwood, with which it forms a conurbation. At the 2001 census Oakdale had a population of 4,478.
Tredegar General Hospital was a community hospital in Tredegar, Blaenau Gwent, Wales. It was managed by the Aneurin Bevan Local Health Board.
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) is the local health board of NHS Wales for Gwent, in the south-east of Wales. Headquartered in Caerleon, the local health board (LHB) was launched in October 2009 through the merger of Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust and Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Newport, Torfaen, and Monmouthshire LHBs. It is named after Aneurin Bevan, a Member of Parliament who represented the area and who was the Minister of Health responsible for the foundation of the National Health Service. Aneurin Bevan University Health Board is the operational name of Aneurin Bevan Local Health Board.
Walter Conway was the longstanding secretary of the Tredegar Medical Aid Society in South Wales. This society contributed the model which established the British National Health Service.
Llanfrechfa Grange Hospital is a medical facility providing assessment and treatment services for people with learning disabilities. It is located to the east of Cwmbran on the B4236 road towards Caerleon to the south-east. It is managed by Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. The main building is a Grade II listed building.
Ysbyty’r tri Chwm is a mental health facility in Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, Wales. The site was opened in 1996. It is managed by the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.
Hospital Management Committees (HMCs) were established as the main instrument for the local management of hospital services of the National Health Service (NHS) in England and Wales under the National Health Service Act 1946.
The Bedwellty Union Workhouse was situated in Georgetown, Tredegar. It is 2.9 miles (4.7 km) from the Nanybwtch Junction A465. The building was in existence for approximately 127 years. The workhouse building was also used as a hospital. Today, the site where the building once stood, there is a housing estate known as St James Park.
A statue of Aneurin Bevan stands at the western end of Queen Street, Cardiff, Wales in recognition of Aneurin Bevan who is credited with founding the National Health Service (NHS). It has been described as "perhaps one of Wales' most iconic statues".
Dunn, Francis Gerard. 2022. A.J. Cronin's career and fiction with specific reference The Citadel and the context of the foundation of the National Health Service. MPhil(R) thesis. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/82869/
French, Paddy (1999). "Raiders of the lost ark". Planet. 134 (April/May): 35–39.
Thompson, Steven (2003). "A proletarian public sphere: Working class provision of medical services and care in South Wales, c.1900-1948". In Borsay, Anne (ed.). Medicine in Wales c.1800-2000. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.