Plans to form a British Microcirculation Society came to fruition in 1963 when the decision was made to hold the 4th European Conference on Microcirculation in Cambridge in 1966. The European Society had emerged from the first European Conference in 1960 and Dr P.A.G. Monro of the University of Cambridge Anatomy School, who was on the Committee, was instrumental in setting up the British Society and was its Secretary until 1980.
The Association was founded in 1911, but further details of its historical background, or that of Osteopathic Trusts Ltd., is not known.
In 1931 the British Pharmacological Society was founded in Oxford by group of c 20 pharmacologists, and brought together by J.A. Gunn, H.H. Dale and W.E. Dixon. It aimed to meet once a year for the reading of papers on pharmacological subjects and the discussion of questions of teaching and publication to promote friendly relations between workers in pharmacology.
The Brain Research Association (BRA) was set up in 1968 on the initiative of Derek Richter and Donald MacKay, UK representatives on the Central Council of the International Brain Research Organization. It was renamed the British Neuroscience Association in 1997. The Association acts as an informal discussion forum for all those interested in brain research, and aims in particular to foster the exchange of ideas between young and established scientists. Its objects as stated in the BRA rules c.1977 include:
*Promoting multi-disciplinary study of the structure and functions of the nervous system
*Correlating such studies as far as possible
*Making available information to all research workers in the brain and related sciences and to members and student members of the medical and related professions by means of lectures, discussion, meetings and reports
*Advising on problems concerning the structure and functions of the nervous system
In due course several local groups were established throughout the UK, which in conjunction with the BRA committee organise an active programme of local and national events. The BRA has also contributed to discussions on issues of relevance to neuroscientists such as legislation on the use of animals in research, and the proposed registration of psychologists.
The British Society of Gastroenterology was founded in 1937.
The National Council for Combatting Venereal Diseases was established as a result of the appointment of a Royal Commission on Venereal Diseases in 1913. A number of members of the commission and others concerned about the problem of sexually transmitted diseases came together to set up this Council, which was concerned with propaganda and education as well as the investigation of the problem. A leading motivating figure who continued to be a major figure in the Council's activities was Mrs Sybil Neville Rolfe (formerly Gotto). In 1917 as a result of the recommendations of the Royal Commission the NCCVD was given the task of conducting the educational and propaganda work deemed desirable by the Commission, with funding from central government. In 1929 this funding was devolved to local authorities by the Local Government Act of that year, but although local authorities were supposed to undertake educational work as well as the treatment of venereal diseases not all of them contributed to the work of the British Social Hygiene Council as it had become known. The resulting financial stringency had a serious effect on the Council and its work and it does not seem to have managed to find sources of funding equivalent to the amounts it received from the Ministry during the 1920s.
The archive is very far from being complete. It is predominantly the minutes which survive, with a little correspondence and other papers which had been inserted into the volumes, a few financial records from the later period of the Council's activities, and an incomplete set of the new series of the journal Health and Empire, 1926-1940. There are some noticeable gaps even among the surviving minutes: no minutes of the Financial Comittee survive, there are no records of the early Civilian Committee which was the counterpart of the Military Committee, and there were over one hundred branches of which only the records of the London and Home Counties Branch are represented here, probably because it was reconstituted as a Committee of the Council in 1922.
In spite of its lacunae this is an important collection of a body which played a significant public role in the determination of policy on venereal disease control, the provision of facilities for its treatment, and in particular for the dissemination of propaganda and public health education in this field. As a concomitant of the latter task it became a leading provider of sex education and the teaching of biology, and training for teachers and others for this purpose. The change of name in 1925 reflected the Council's perception of its wider remit in the promotion of 'social hygiene' in the broader sense. There was a strong overseas and imperial dimension to its work, and port welfare and the Mercantile Marine were particular objects of concern. A glance at the various committees, subcommittees, advisory boards, joint standing committees, etc, indicates the range of interests of the Council.
The British Society of Immunology (BSI) was founded in 1956 to promote the study of immunology. It does this primarily through scientific meetings and its journals, Immunology and Clinical and Experimental Immunology. It also supports regional immunology groups, and affinity groups which meet to discuss particular interests such as comparative and veterinary immunology. It arranges summer schools and supports the organisation of conferences for those in further education.
The BSI has representatives on the committees of related organisations and vice versa. It is affiliated to the Research Defence Society and the Institute of Biology. It is a member of the International Union of Immunological Societies and the European Federation of Immunological Societies.
The Society is registered as a charity and became a company limited by guarantee in 1995. It set up its own trading company, Triangle 3 Ltd in 1994. This enables it to create additional income without affecting its charitable status. The directors of the company are the BSI's Management Committee.
The British Society for the Study of Orthodontics (BSSO) was founded in 1907, and was the only orthodontics association until the emergence of others in the 1960s. In the 1970s there were attempts to co-ordinate activities with other orthodontics societies by collaborating over conferences and journals. In July 1994 the BSSO merged with the British Association of Orthodontics to form the British Orthodontic Society. The Society holds regular meetings for the presentation of papers by members discussing academic aspects of orthodontics, which were published in Transactions, 1908-1971, and thereafter in the British Journal of Orthodontics. For further details of the Society's history see the articles by Leighton and Howard (7/1 and 7/2).
In 1977 the Medical Research Council's Medical Commission on Accident Prevention held a conference with Newcastle Department of Child Health on `Children, the environment and accidents'. The conference highlighted the need for a body specifically aimed at child accident prevention, and a steering group was set up to investigate the establishment of such a body. As a result, the Joint Committee on Childhood Accident Prevention was set up in 1979 for a trial period of 3 years, with a grant from the King's Fund. The Joint Committee aimed to initiate and coordinate research into childhood accidents and their prevention, bringing together people from the fields of health services, engineering, design, standards and education. At the end of the trial period the Joint Committee obtained charitable status and became the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT), funded by the Department of Health and Social Security. Originally, CAPT had six Trustees, a Council of Management of 33 members, an Executive Committee of eight members and a small full-time staff with a paediatrician as part-time Medical Secretary. In 1988 the Executive Committee was replaced by a Professional Committee and a Management Committee. CAPT disseminates information in a variety of ways: working parties, made up of Trust members and co-opted experts, undertake research and produce reports for presentation at seminars; the Trust's resource centre provides an information and advisory service to those involved in child injury prevention; and CAPT cooperates with other bodies to produce publications such as books, factsheets and videos for both general and specialist consumption. For further details of CAPT's work see their website at http://www.capt.org.uk.
The Camberwell Council on Alcoholism (CCA) promoted preventive and diagnostic work in the study of alcoholism as a disease and in the treatment of alcoholics. Founded in 1963, it was the first of the community councils on alcoholism to be established in the UK. It was active in an area of south London where a very visible vagrant alcoholic problem met a growing interest among the doctors of the Maudsley Hospital in the problems of alcoholism as a disease: in particular Dr Griffith Edwards of the Maudsley was very active in setting up this local council. Recent theoretical developments concerning the problem (mainly from the USA) met the 1960s trend towards the development of community-based organisations to deal with social problems, committed to a self-help approach and involved in direct action, education of the public and campaigning. During this early period of the CCA's history the economic climate was favourable, with public money being available to fund projects such as these.
The CCA became involved in the problems created by alcohol over a wide field from the very obvious problem of the vagrant alcoholic to the unsuspectedly large problem of female alcoholism. The pattern of the CCA's activity was to set up groups to deal with a particular problem (e.g. provision of hostel accommodation for homeless alcoholics, setting an Alcohol Education Centre) and then withdraw as these groups became self-supporting ventures. It also liaised with other organisations doing related work. The CCA became inactive in the early 1980s.
The Commission was appointed in June 1965 to review medical education, both undergraduate and postgraduate, in Great Britain, in the light of national needs and resources, including technical assistance overseas; to advise the government on what principles should govern future development; to take into account the General Medical Council's review of recent changes in the undergraduate curriculum; and to consider what changes might be needed in the pattern, number, nature or location of the institutions providing medical education. The Commission published its report (the "Todd Report") in April 1968.
The initial meeting of County Medical Officers of Health took place in Birmingham on 31st October 1902 at the instigation of Dr. Robert Kaye. Periodic meetings were held for several years after this until 1911, when the Conference of County Medical Officers of Health was placed on a more formal basis with the drawing up of a constitution. By then 40 English and 8 Welsh counties were represented, officers and an executive committee were appointed, an annual subscription introduced and three meetings held per year. Dr Kaye was secretary until 1925 when he became the Association's first President. Subsequent Secretaries were: Dr. Holden, 1925-1934, Dr. Ruddock West, 1934-1954, Dr. G. Ramage, 1954-1972, and Dr. P C Moore, 1972-1974.
In 1945 it was agreed that the Association should also be constituted as the County Medical Officers' Group of the Society of Medical Officers of Health, which it did while retaining its existing identity as an Association, in 1946. Joint General meetings were held until 1956 when separate Group and Association meetings were held and in 1962 separate constitutions for Group and Association were drawn up and approved. There was always a joint Executive Committee.
The Association had representatives and advisors on many other bodies medical and non-medical, including the Society of Medical Officers of Health, the British Medical Association, and the County Councils Association.
The Association was wound up in 1974 as a result of local government reorganisation.
The British Empire Cancer Campaign (BECC or the Campaign') was founded in 1923 "to attack and defeat the disease of cancer in all its forms, to investigate its causes, distribution, symptoms, pathology and treatment and to promote its cure" [Memorandum and Articles of Association]. It was founded amidst rivalry and even hostility from the well-established Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF orthe Fund') and the Medical Research Council (MRC). The ICRF felt that the Campaign would jeopardize its existence and the standing of other well-known cancer research institutions, especially regarding fund-raising; the MRC was concerned that the Campaign would challenge its supremacy within the scientific hierarchy and its control of the direction of biomedical research. Despite this controversial beginning, the Campaign became a very successful and powerful grant-giving body, allocating funds (obtained on an entirely voluntary basis), to universities, hospitals, research institutions and individuals, for a wide range of both clinical and biomedical cancer research. In 1963 the words for Research' were added to the Campaign's title, partly to strengthen its legal position with regard to doubtfully worded legacies tocancer research'. However, this title was found to be rather cumbersome for everyday use and the words British Empire' tended to cause confusion with the wordImperial' in the minds of the public. In 1970, the title Cancer Research Campaign (CRC) was adopted. For details of the early history of the Campaign and its relationship with the ICRF and MRC see A history of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund 1902-1986, Dr Joan Austoker (OUP: 1988). Some information on the Campaign's origins and development of its regional organization can be found in Appendix I of the hard-copy list. Current information on the Campaign can be found on their website: http://www.crc.org.uk.
The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy began life in 1894, after a series of 'massage scandals' in the popular press prompted nine nurses and midwives to form a council of trained masseuses. In February 1895 this was officially launched as The Society of Trained Masseuses. The Society set examinations and educational standards, inspected training schools, and quickly embraced wider methods of treatment, including medical gymnastics, hydrotherapy and electro-therapy. It also acted to protect and improve the status of its members within the medical hierarchy. The Society became incorporated in 1900, and in 1920 amalgamated with the Institute of Massage and Remedial Exercises, changing its name to the Chartered Society of Massage and Medical Gymnastics. In 1943 the name was changed again to the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, and amalgamation with the Incorporation of Physiotherapists took place in 1945. Further amalgamations occurred in 1968 - with The Faculty of Physiotherapists, with The Physiotherapists Association Ltd in 1970 and with the Society of Remedial Gymnasts and Recreational Therapy in 1985. In 1976 the Society registered as an independent trade union. By 1994 the Society had over 26,000 members, working and teaching both within the NHS and privately.
The Association was established in Feb 1975, following a proposal made by a meeting of District Community Physicians (DCPs) at the Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene Annual Conference, Oct 1974. Its formation resulted from DCPs' overwhelming desire to have their interests and collective opinions properly represented under the reorganised National Health Service. The Regional and Area Medical Officers had already formed their own national associations and the Society of Community Medicine (formerly Society of Medical Officers of Health) had banned the formation of functional groups within its new organisation. The Association of District Community Physicians aimed to provide a forum for discussion of problems peculiar to DCPs; promote interests and views of DCPs and prepare evidence to be submitted on their behalf, to other bodies when necessary; arrange special educational courses and symposia; and promote research projects relevant to needs of DCPs. Initially members were split over whether they should support and maintain allegiance to the Society of Community Medicine, however, the Association did establish strong links with both the Society of Community Medicine and Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene, including cross-membership, joint meetings and a shared address (28 Portland Place).
From the start, DCPs were concerned about their new role, duties, terms, training and whom they were to be responsible to. The DCP was a new post and they had no relevant experience or code of practice to use for guidance. In the confusion resulting from NHS reorganisation they felt that their job was ill-defined and they were anxious to remain independent from the pressures and influences of Area Medical Officers [See files in Section D]. It was hoped that by getting together the DCPs would be more effective in arguing their case to the Department of Health and Social Services and British Medical Association. However, their voice was one amongst a number of organisations recently formed to represent community medicine. The Association of District Community Physicians functioned until the next health service reorganisation in 1982 and subsequently merged into the new Association of District Medical Officers.
The Eugenics Society was founded, under the name Eugenics Education Society, in 1907, to promote public awareness of eugenic problems, i.e. the existence of hereditary qualities both positive and negative, and the need to encourage social responsibility with respect to these qualities. Unlike the Galton Laboratory, which was also inspired by the teachings of Sir Francis Galton and founded in 1904, the Eugenics Society was a popular rather than a scientific institution, although its Aims and Objects varied during the years and in 1963 it abandoned propaganda on being granted charitable status. Besides its involvement in the theoretical aspects of eugenics the Society was also interested in the practical means by which eugenic ideals could be attained, so these records contain a good deal of material on subjects such as the treatment of the mentally and physically defective, the development of birth control methods, the legalisation of sterilisation, the use of artificial insemination, etc. (see detailed catalogue section D 'General'). A large number of people in all stations of life, some of them very distinguished, were involved with the Society (see detailed catalogue section C 'People'). The Society changed its name to the Galton Institute in 1989. For a fuller treatment of the history of the Eugenics Society, see Faith Schenck & A.S. Parkes, `The Activities of the Eugenics Society', Eugenics Review 60, 1968, pp. 142-161. For the early years of the Society see L.A. Farrall, The Origins and Growth of the English Eugenics Movement 1863-1925 (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Indiana University, 1970) and the file GB0121 SA/EUG/B.11 'Notes on the early days of the Eugenics Education Society' by Lady Chambers.
Fennings Pharmaceuticals was founded in 1840 when Alfred Fennings (d 1900) opened the Golden Key Pharmacy in Hammersmith Broadway, London. Fennings sold medicines for the treatment of typhoid and cholera as well as for more minor ailments such as coughs and colds. However he was not a member of The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and there is no trace of him in the Medical Register. In 1850 the business moved to Cowes, Isle of Wight and went into manufacturing. While the general management of the business, including advertising, correspondence, book-keeping, manufacturing and publishing was carried out at the Cowes office, manufacturing, packing and supply of various medicines was also carried out, under agreement, by Sanger and Sons (Seymour Works, 47 Lime Grove, Shepherds Bush London) and G.F. Sutton, Sons and Co. (Osbourne Works, Brandon Road, Kings Cross, London). These two firms collected all acounts due for goods supplied by them. After the death of Alfred Fennings in 1900 Fennings Pharmaceuticals became a Trust, with all profits going to Shaftesbury Homes, a children's charity. In 1948 the main office moved from Cowes to Horsham, West Sussex. From 1964 some medicines were being manufactured and distributed by J. Waterhouse and Co Ltd, (Church Street, Old Square, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire). There was also a manufacturing plant in Mabelthorpe, Lincolnshire. The company ceased trading in 1996. Fennings Pharmaceticals sold products across the Commonwealth, mainly in the area of child proprietary medicines.
1877 Malthusian League founded; 1921 Society for Constructive Birth Control and Racial Progress (CBC), founded by Marie Stopes and Mothers' Clinic opened; 1922 Walworth Women's Welfare Centre opened; 1924 Society for Provision of Birth Control Clinics (SPBCC) founded; North Kensington Women's Welfare Centre opened (Walworth also run by SPBCC); Workers' Birth Control Group founded; May 1924 Deputation to John Wheatley, Minister of Health; 1927 Birth Control Investigation Committee (BCIC) founded [Chairman, Sir Humphrey Rolleston, Hon Medical Secretary, Dr C.P. Blacker] and established International Medical Group to investigate birth control in other countries; 1929 Birth Control International Information Centre (BCIIC) founded [President, Margaret Sanger]; Jul 1930 Ministry of Health Memorandum 153 MCW 'Birth Control' issued permitting contraceptive advice to be given in local authority maternal and infant welfare clinics to women for whom another pregnancy would be dangerous; National Birth Control Council (NBCC) founded. Premises at 26 Eccleston Street; Workers' Birth Control Group joined NBCC; 1931 Birth Control Investigation Committee joined NBCC; Jul 1931 NBCC changed name to National Birth Control Association (NBCA); 1933 Resignation of Dr Marie Stopes from Governing Body; 1934 Ministry of Health circular 1408 extends grounds on which local authority clinics can give advice; Feb 1937 Deputation to Sir Kingsley Wood, Minister of Health; 1938 Society for Provision of Birth Control Clinics and Birth Control International Information Centre amalgamated with NBCA; Feb 1938 NBCA moved to 69 Eccleston Square [HQ of Eugenics Society]; Feb 1939 Dissolution of BCIC. Replaced by Scientific Advisory Committee; May 1939 NBCA changed name to Family Planning Association (FPA) and introduces new constitution; 1947 FPA branches grouped into regional federations; Oct 1949 FPA moved to 64 Sloane Street; 1954 Death of Lady Denman, chairman; succeeded by Mrs Margaret Pyke; 1955 FPA Silver Jubilee, Lady Denman Memorial Fund established to provide clinics in rural areas, First official visit by Minister of Health [Iain Macleod]; Jul 1957 Oliver Bird Trust founded and established Council for Investigation of Fertility Control (CIFC); Oct 1957 Publication of The Human Sum [for FPA Silver Jubilee]; 1959 FPA Holdings Ltd incorporated, BBC Appeal by Bishop of Southwark, Birthright film premiere; 1960 Organisation Working Party established [Chairman, Professor François Lafitte, Birmingham University]; 1962 Family Planning International Campaign [later `Countdown'] launched; Feb 1963 FPA moved to 231 Tottenham Court Road; Sep 1963 Family Planning in the Sixties Report of Organisation Working Party published; 1965 Re-organisation of FPA branches. 500 clinics grouped into 52 branches, Press and Information Department established, Theodore Fox appointed as director; Oct 1965 Interim National Council established; 1966 FPA incorporated as a company, Margaret Pyke Memorial Trust established, 1967 National Health Service (Family Planning) Act extends conditions under which birth control can be provided, FPA Holdings Ltd disbanded; Jun 1967 National Council formally established; 1968 Caspar Brook appointed as director; Oct 1968 FPA moved to 27-35 Mortimer Street; Apr 1970 Oliver Bird Trust/CIFC wound up. Remaining funds to Margaret Pyke Memorial Trust to continue annual lectures; Jun 1970 1000th clinic opened at Thamesmead, London; 1974 NHS Act fully incorporates birth control services into the National Health Service; 1975 Most FPA clinics handed over to NHS Area Health Authorities.
At an informal dinner held in January 1942 a group of eminent professors decided to form a small club composed of those holding university chairs in medicine, surgery or obstetrics and who were interested in the future of clinical teaching and academic medicine, particularly in light of the inception of the NHS. The limited membership club thus founded began as a small group of 14, but membership steadily increased, reaching 184 in 1992. Originally membership was limited to heads of strictly clinical departments but has since been extended to professors of paraclinical disciplines. Each meeting of the Club is devoted, after general business has been dealt with, to the discussion of a particular topic of current medico-political or medico-academic importance, ranging from the foundation and operation of the National Health Service and the Royal Commission on Medical Education to issues in the funding of research, the undergraduate curriculum, examination procedures, postgraduate training, medicine and the media, etc. The Club has periodically made reports and recommendations, eg. to Royal Commissions, but has consistently avoided becoming involved in salary negotiations. Further details of the history of the Club can be found in Section A. of the collection.
The Group-Analytic Society (London) (GAS) was established in 1952 by S.H. Foulkes (SHF), Elizabeth Marx (ETF), Dr. James Anthony, Dr Patrick De Mare, W. H. R. Iliffe, Mrs M. L. J. Abercrombie and Dr Norbert Elias. Its objectives were to formalise the arrangements for co-operation and discussion which already existed between them; to provide a focus for the teaching and training in group analysis which they were undertaking separately in various teaching hospitals; to stimulate research and publication; and to create a centre for scientific meetings and workshops. In 1971 the Society delegated responsibility for training and qualifications in group analysis to the Institute of Group Analysis (IGA) while the Trust for Group Analysis (TGA), a charitable body, was formed to handle the finances of GAS, IGA and the Society's journal. This was dissolved in 1981 and GAS and IGA became registered charities in their own right.
SHF was President of GAS until 1970. ETF, his wife, was Honorary Administrative Secretary of GAS from its early days, and was later Membership Secretary and Vice-President and a Trustee of the TGA.
The Graves Medical Audiovisual Library (formerly the Medical Recording Service Foundation) was a non-profit educational charity whose aims were to make available all kinds of audiovisual materials by hire and sale and also to encourage new developments in medical and paramedical education. The Library was started by husband and wife team Drs John and Valerie Graves in 1957 as an educational activity of the College of General Practitioners (from 1972 the Royal College of General Practitioners). It soon became the premier organisation supplying audiovisual materials for all the medical and paramedical professions in the U.K. Users became world wide and the range of topics covered all areas of healthcare education. Initially it was mainly associated with tape-slide programmes, but by the mid-1980s video programmes became a major medium and they included videotapes on a wide range of subjects in their lists.
The Graves' original aim was to promote a new method of medical teaching, using the tape recorder to communicate with the general practitioner, and ultimately to build up a medical recordings library. The service began in Winter 1957 with tapes sent to 27 listeners. It came under the remit of the Post-Graduate Education Committee of the College of General Practitioners and was supported by a grant from Smith, Kline and French Laboratories Ltd.
At first it was a very personal service to keep GPs who could not easily attend courses and lectures in touch with new developments and did most of the recording. In 1961 it became known as the Medical Recording Service and Sound Library (MRS). It grew rapidly and by the late-1960s the MRS made tapes for the College and other organisations; it also had reciprocal arrangements with other organisations making their own recordings and tapes. The MRS continued its own recordings but primarily functioned to administer the loan service, offering a wide range of teaching aids: cassette tapes, tape-slide packages, programmed slide sets, question-and-answer tapes and LP discs, covering many aspects of medicine. The service paid especial reference to self-instruction and small group teaching, with the emphasis on low cost, ready availability and ease of use with simple equipment. It also functioned as an advisory and co-ordinating service on audiovisual teaching and supported research into the effectiveness and use of such material.
In April 1969 it became the Medical Recording Service Foundation Board of the College of Practitioners (MRSF). All funds were transferred to the Board which managed them. The fund formed part of the assets of the College but was kept separate from other funds of the College and used only for audio-visual purposes. Both John and Valerie Graves were on the Foundation Board. The reasons behind this were financial and legal: to have its own spending powers and accounts, to clarify its financial position and keep its independence but stay within the College and keep the Ministry of Health happy that it was not going outside of the College remit. By then the grant from Smith Kline French had ceased (in 1968) and the service was receiving grants from a number of organisations, including the College and a large one from DHSS, and doing recording work for other people than the College.
By 1975 the MRSF had become a central clearing-house for all medical tape-slides in the UK, with an annual issuing rate of over 25,000. It's activities were far outside the scope of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), producing and providing material of general use to the whole NHS (post-graduate doctors, dentists, nurses and midwives, physiotherapists, health visitors, social workers, etc.) and colleges in the U.K. and abroad.
In 1976 the MRSF decided to sever links from the RCGP, setting up a new and independent company and charity, The Graves Medical Audiovisual Library (GMAL), to continue the work of the Service separate from the College. The fund was transferred from the RCGP to the new GMAL. The official name change took effect on 25th Oct 1977.
The service had originally been run from the Graves' home, Kitts Croft in Chelmsford, and had spread through the house and expanded into an annex built in their garden in 1972. In May 1978 the GMAL moved into new, bigger premises at Holly House, Chelmsford. The staff were all local
In 1980, John Graves, OBE, died and Valerie Graves, OBE, stayed on as Honorary Medical Director and Honorary Secretary. In Oct 1984 Richard Morton MSc, FRPS, was appointed Director of the GMAL becoming responsible for the overall direction of the Library and initiation and development of new projects (Valerie Graves continued as Honorary Director).
In 1986 the GMAL's separate London base at the Hospital Equipment Display Centre in Newman Street moved to the British Life Assurance Trust (BLAT) Centre for Health and Medical Education, at BMA House, Tavistock Square, London. There the latest programmes could be viewed.
To reflect its expanding sphere of activity in supplying all kinds of audiovisual materials for the medical and paramedical professions, in Dec 1990 the name 'Graves Educational Resources' was adopted.
In Apr 1993 Graves Educational Resources transferred its audiovisual distribution services to Concord Video and Film Council, based in Ipswich, from where the Graves medical audiovisual programmes are still available. The savings from winding up the base in Chelmsford were placed by the University of Wales College of Medicine in a special fund known as the Graves Educational Resources Development Fund, to be used to support pioneering work in computer based learning in medicine.
The General Optical Council (GOC) is the statutory body which regulates the Optical professions (Dispensing Opticians and Optometrists). The GOC's main aims are to protect the public and promote high standards of professional conduct and education amongst Opticians. It was created following the Opticians Act 1958 in order to implement the provisions of the Act.
The powers and duties of the GOC are outlined in the Opticians Act 1989. They are responsible for registering Opticians, enrolling Bodies Corporate and maintaining and publishing registers and lists. In addition they approve training institutions and qualifications enabling registration and supervise training institutions and examinations, promoting proper professional conduct. The Council also prosecutes criminal offences under the Act in order to enforce the Act's provision in the public interest.
The GOC holds registers of Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians as well as lists of Bodies Corporate who carry on business as Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians. It is made up of a number of Committees, including the Education Committee, the Disciplinary Committee and the Standards Committee. They consist of representatives from the College of Optometrists, the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, and the Association of British Dispensing Opticians, as well as Ophthalmic Training Institutions, Registered Ophthalmic Opticians and Registered Dispensing Opticians.
The Hospital Infection Society was founded in 1979 to provide a scientific forum for medical microbiologists interested in various aspects of infection in hospital. Initially the Society was proposed to be a sub-group of a larger society, to be founded as the Society for Clinical Microbiology. However, a subsequent meeting of the steering committee determined that the new association should stand alone from the start as the Hospital Infection Society. Its objective was to promote the study of and facilitate the dissemination of information about all aspects of hospital infection and the importance of holding meetings and of co-operation with other societies was emphasised from the outset. Membership was to consist of medically-qualified microbiologists, with physicians and surgeons or non-medical microbiologists with a PhD or MRCPath and an active interest in hospital infection admissible on the discretion of the Council.
The Society meets several times a year, often in conjunction with other related societies, such as the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (whose archive is also held at the Wellcome Library), the Surgical Infection Study Group and the Infection Control Nurses Association (see Section B). The annual Lowbury Lecture, sponsored from the first by ICI, was named after Professor Edward Lowbury, the Society's first President, an expert in the field. The Society has also organised large three International Conferences on hospital infection (see Section G).
The work of publicising the issue of hospital infection was aided by the establishment of the Journal of Hospital Infection in 1980, which was associated with the Society from the outset and soon became its official publication (see E.1-2). The Society also undertook to carry out research in the field, by means of ad hoc working parties (see F.1) and to use the professional expertise of the membership to advise, comment on and publicise the work of others (see F.2).
The organisation now known as the Health Visitors' Association was founded in 1896 as Women Sanitary Inspectors' Association; renamed in 1915 as the Women Sanitary Inspectors' and Health Visitors' Association and in 1930 became the Women Public Health Officers' Association. The name Health Visitors' Association was adopted in 1962.
The Women Sanitary Inspectors' Association was founded in 1896 by seven women sanitary workers, all based in London. By 1906 the membership had risen to sixty-three and that year invitations to join the Association were sent out to those working in the provinces. The main aims of the Association have remained constant throughout its history - to safeguard the interests and improve the status of women public health workers and to promote the interchange of relevant technical and professional knowledge. In 1915 the name of the Association was changed to The Women Sanitary Inspectors' and Health Visitors' Association to reflect the increased number of Health Visitors who had joined, and in 1929 it became The Women Public Health Officers' Association due to the inclusion in the membership of others working in the public health field. In 1962 it adopted the new name of The Health Visitors' Association as this was seen as more indicative of the work and function of most members, although other types of workers were not excluded.
Throughout its history the Association has been interested in the work of the many different types of health worker who have been eligible for membership at one time or another such as school nurses, tuberculosis visitors, sanitary inspectors, clinic nurses, family planning nurses, domiciliary midwives and matrons of day nurseries as well as health visitors themselves, and has shared connections with parallel professions such as nursing, social work, district nursing and midwifery. In 1918 the Association affiliated to the National Union of Women Workers and in 1924 was the first health service union to affiliate to the Trades Union Congress and has actively negotiated and campaigned on a variety of issues such as pay and conditions, state welfare benefits, training, etc.
The early emphasis of health visiting was on mother and child care, as part of the tide of concern over infant mortality during the late 19th and early 20th century, but later, particularly after the National Health Service Acts of 1946-7, their work extended into involvement with the health of the whole family and other groups such as those needing after-care following admission to hospital, those with long term illness, the recently bereaved, and families with social problems, although the emphasis throughout has remained on public health education. Because of this, and the varied settings in which its members have worked at different times over the years, such as the home and school, workshop and factory, as well as the health centre, clinic and hospital, the records of the Association, and of the individual health visitors which lie alongside them, document many social, rather than purely medical, aspects of health and disease in a wide range of areas ranging from the working conditions of outworkers and the recovery of the tuberculous at the beginning of the century, to, more recently, concern over cigarette advertising and the public health implications of the chemical and nuclear industries.
The International Academy of the History of Medicine was founded in 1962.
Dr Noel Poynter was born, 1906; Librarian, 1954-1964; Director of the Wellcome Institute, 1964-1973; founder member and president of the International Academy of the History of Medicine; died, 1979.
The UK Umbrella Group began as fairly informal meetings of members of the Association of Jungian Analysts (AJA), Jungian Section of the British Association of Psychotherapists (BAP), Independent Group of Analytical Psychologists (IGAP) and the Society of Analytical Psychologists (SAP) late in 1986, which gradually became more formal and generated joint conferences and workshops as well as a working group on archives. The Umbrella Group Newsletter was published by the London Umbrella Group from 1997 and produced by a group of people from the four UK Jungian training organisations, and the editorship rotated around the team.
The archives date from the inauguration of the Committee in 1881 at a conference for those engaged in the teaching of anatomy in London. At this time teachers of anatomy were experiencing severe problems in obtaining subjects for dissection for classes in Practical Anatomy and Operative Surgery, with medical schools competing with one another for this limited supply of bodies. The Anatomical Teachers' Board was set up to represent the various London medical schools, to improve distribution of unclaimed bodies and to improve also their transfer for subsequent burial. A committee was appointed to investigate the workings of the Anatomy Act 1871 and what measures should be taken to improve the supply of subjects. The Board's duties included visiting existing sources of supply (workhouses, infirmaries, etc.) and taking every opportunity to increase the supply, receiving payments from teachers and examining boards for every subject sent to them by the Inspector of Anatomy, maintaining accounts with the undertakers who removed anatomical subjects for burial, and keeping a register of all subjects sent to schools and examining boards open to inspection by the Inspector of Anatomy. The Committee continues to deal with the supplying of cadavers for teaching and examination purposes to London medical schools, under the University of London, responsible to HM Inspector of Anatomy at the Department of Health. However, since unclaimed bodies are in ever-dwindling supply at the end of the twentieth century, most bodies are now those of individuals who have bequeathed them for this purpose.
In 1891 the British Institute for Preventive Medicine (BIPM) was incorporated. In 1893 the BIPM amalgamated with the College of State Medicine. In 1898 Lord Lister became Chairman of the Governing Body of the BIPM. In 1899 the BIPM became the Jenner Institute of Preventive Medicine. In 1903 the Institute became the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine (LIPM). From 1904-1911 Lord Lister was President of LIPM. In 1905 LIPM became a school of the University of London. In 1912 Lord Lister died. In 1919 the National Collection of Type Cultures was established at LIPM. In 1944 the Medical Research Council Blood Research Unit was established at LIPM. In the 1970s the LIPM laboratories for conducting research, and producing vaccine and sera, were closed. In 1981 the LIPM became a grantmaking body. A Scientific Advisory Committee was set up to consider applications to provide support for research in biomedical sciences. In 1982 the Council disbanded and the Memorandum and Articles of Association were amended.
The Mental After Care Association (MACA) was founded in 1879 by Henry Hawkins, Chaplain of Colney Hatch Asylum, as The After Care Association for Poor and Friendless Female Convalescents on Leaving Asylums for the Insane. Its aims were to provide an alternative to the workhouse for those discharged from asylums by offering a period of convalescence in the homes of private individuals. The ex-patients were given advice, money, clothing, and assisted to find suitable work. The name changed in 1892 when "Friendless" was dropped from the title. In 1893 the Association opened its own home for ex-patients in Redhill, Surrey. It was the first convalescent home for the mentally ill in England and closed in 1895. The Association's name changed again in 1894 when "Female" was dropped from the title. In 1914 the Association became The Mental After Care Association for Poor Persons Convalescent or Recovered from Institutions for the Insane. During World War One (1914-1918) the Association helped shell shock and air raid victims. In the 1930s the Association moved into preventive care, and also provided holiday accommodation for those not ready to leave hospital on a permanent basis. The Association became MACA in 1940. It registered as a limited company in 1949. In the 1960s chronic patients were accommodated in homes administered by MACA. More recently MACA has participated in community and respite care projects. In 2005 MACA became Together: Working for Wellbeing.
The Medical Research Council Medical Cyclotron Unit (MRCMCU) was based at Hammersmith Hospital. It carried out research and treatment using a radium beam and linear accelerator.
Founded in 1929 as the National Ophthalmic Treatment Board Association (NOTBA) to organise eye examinations by medically qualified practitioners. NOTBA changed it's name to the Medical Eye Centre Association (MECA), which ended in 1990.
The British Migraine Association (BMA) was founded in 1958 as an association for sufferers. Growing out of the activities of the BMA, the Migraine Trust was set up in 1965 as a charitable organisation for the promotion of research into migraine and its alleviation.
The Medical Journalists' Association (MJA) was launched by a group of medical journalists in 1967 "to improve the quality and practice of medical journalism and to improve relationships and understanding between medical journalists and the medical profession". Members participate in regular briefing meetings and the annual award scheme, and the MJA will act to defend points of principle, such as the availability of information from government press offices. Membership is open to journalists working in all branches of the media.
Thomas Newborn Robert Morson (1800-1874), pharmaceutical entrepreneur, was the founder of the firm of Thomas Morson and Son Ltd, of London, which became a leading manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer of pharmaceutical chemicals and proprietary medicines during the nineteenth century. After an apprenticeship to a surgeon-apothecary in London, Morson spent three years in Paris during 1818-1821, studying under the chemist Louis Antoine Planche. He was a man of wide scientific and cultural interests, with contacts and friendships throughout British and continental science. He was prominent in the foundation of the Pharmaceutical Society, and was elected President in 1848.
Thomas Morson and Son was particularly notable for the manufacture and sale of the new vegetable alkaloids which were identified in the early part of the nineteenth century in France, and was the first British producer, from 1821, of quinine sulphate and morphine. By the 1860s Morsons was producing over five hundred different chemical substances, mainly of medicinal application. By the end of the century the firm had a world-wide export business, especially to India. In 1915 the company was incorporated as Thomas Morson and Son Ltd. The peak of production was reached in about 1930, at which time the firm entered into cooperation with the German chemical company, E Merck of Darmstadt, for the manufacture of sodium glycerophosphate (a substance included in tonic formulations). This development presaged the eventual takeover of Morsons by the American pharmaceutical corporation, Merck Sharp and Dohme, in 1957.
The Medical Research Club was founded in 1891, for social and medical reasons, by London-based pathologists including Sir Almroth Wright and Sir John Bland Sutton. Its main object was the discussion of original work in general and pathological science, and it had a strong interest in microbiology, immunology, virology and molecular biology. Members are elected after the presentation of a paper and approval by the rest of the Club. Membership stood at 110 in 1993. Past members have included Sir Henry Dale, Sir Ernst Chain, Sir Charles Sherrington, Sir Howard Florey, Sir Alexander Fleming, Sir Henry Head and Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins.
The Multiple Sclerosis Society (MSS) was set up in 1953 by Sir Richard Cave (1912-1988), "to co-operate with the medical profession to encourage scientific research into the causes of and the cure for Multiple Sclerosis and to aid and ameliorate the conditions of those suffering from it ... to encourage sufferers to join a local group for self help and to join activities and entertainments".
The Association of Medical Women was founded in 1879. In 1917 local Associations of Registered Medical Women joined together to form The Medical Women's Federation (MWF) to represent the interests of women as doctors (especially those serving in the Armed Forces) and patients. The MWF was particularly concerned with the career opportunites and medical education of women. It conducted surveys and research into topics such as the menopause, abortion, and family planning. It also held lectures and conferences, and formed committees to investigate medical issues that specifically affect women. In the late 1960s the Inter-Professional Working Party was set up at the initiative of the MWF to agitate for the amelioration of various financial injustices affecting professional women.
The National Birthday Trust Fund (NBTF) was established in 1928 and campaigned in the 1930s for the wider provision of analgesia in childbirth and improvements in midwifery services. Through the Joint Council on Midwifery it conducted extensive surveys on the benefits of ante-natal care and nutrition and an important survey of abortion practice (the collection includes the completed questionnaire forms). After the war it contributed to several government reports on maternity provision, provided research grants for various projects connected with congenital defects and maternity services, and conducted a series of surveys, including a survey into premature births (for which there are completed questionnaires). These culminated in the Perinatal Mortality Survey in 1958, which formed the basis for the cohort studies of the development of the children at seven year intervals. The collection includes the administrative records for the Perinatal Mortality Survey and the similar study, the British Births Survey, 1970. In 1993 the NBTF was amalgamated with the charity Birthright which works in the same area of maternal and infant care.
The British Women's Hospital Committee was formed by members of the Actresses' Franchise League in 1915. Its aim was fund-raising for Allied servicemen injured and disabled during the First World War. The money raised was used to build and partially endow the Star and Garter Homes for totally disabled men and to fund the Scottish Women's Hospitals. The Committee helped establish the Nation's Fund for Nurses (NFN) in 1917 and the Fund provided an endowment for the newly founded College of Nursing and a 'Tribute Fund' for the relief of individual nurses during sickness and disablement. A separate 'Nation's Tribute to Nurses in Ireland' (Irish Branch of the NFN) was established in 1918. Annie, Viscountess Cowdray, NFN Treasurer and Chairman of the Tribute Fund Committee, presented and furnished a Nurses' Club for the College of Nursing; the Cowdray Club closed in the 1980s. A home of rest at Bonchurch, Isle of Wight, presented to the College of Nursing by Sir John and Lady Martin Harvey and the NFN Committee, was officially opened in 1920. The administration of the Edith Cavell Homes of Rest for Nurses was handed over to the NFN in 1922. The NFN assumed the administration of the Queen Alexandra Relief Fund for War Nurses in 1922 and the Church of England Nurses' Guild in 1923. A Charity Commissioners' scheme established a Board of Management for the NFN, the Tribute Fund, the Queen Alexandra Relief Fund and the Church of England Nurses Guild, in 1930. The Tribute Fund Committee was then renamed the Relief Committee. The College of Nursing appointed a Nurses Appeal Committee to appeal for funds for the NFN through its journal, The Nursing Times, in 1931. The appeal was renamed 'The Royal College of Nursing Appeal for the Nation's Fund for Nurses', in 1955. The NFN took over administration of the Rest Breaks Fund for Nurses and Midwives and Snow's Charity for Female Nurses, in 1959, and of the Archer Convalescent Fund for Nurses in 1967. The NFN was administered by the Queen's Nursing Institute from 1980 to 1995.
Founded in 1959 as a discussion forum for paediatricians and physiologists interested in foetal and neonatal research. The Society annually holds two winter meetings in London and a summer meeting elsewhere in the country, at which research papers are presented and discussed, and at least one special meeting, usually held jointly with a related society. The Society confines itself to scientific discussion, such as advising the British Standards Institute on incubators, or representation on the Royal Commission on Civil Liability and Compensation, and declines involvement in political activity.
The National Association for the Prevention of Consumption and other forms of Tuberculosis (NAPC) was founded in 1899. The aims were the education of public opinion and the stimulation of individual initiative, influencing central and local government, and the establishment of local branches. The name changed to the National Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis (NAPT) in 1919. The Association's activities included propaganda, health education, training, funding research, conferences, lectures, exhibitions, touring caravans, and producing publications. It also supported the establishment of sanatoria, dispensaries and care committees around the UK and abroad.
The Association offered grants to individual sufferers from 1928. Individual committees examined issues such as mass radiography, and sanatorium design and construction. An appeal to establish a Farm Colony for discharged tuberculous servicemen, started in 1917, and Burrow Hill Colony was established at Frimley in Surrey in 1918 and closed in 1943; the Burrow Hill Training Fund to train men and boys in suitable occupations was inaugurated in the 1950s. The Queen Alexandra Sanatorium Fund and allied Funds were transferred to the NAPT in 1954. The Spero Fund (previously the Central Fund for the Industrial Welfare of Tuberculous Persons) appointed the NAPT to take over administration in the early 1950s. Due to a decline in Tuberculosis, the words 'and Diseases of the Chest and Heart' were added to the Association's name in 1956. The name changed again to the Chest and Heart Association for the Conquest of Chest and Heart Diseases through Research, Education and Treatment, commonly known as the Chest and Heart Association (CHA) in 1958. The Volunteer Stroke Service was established by the Association in the 1970s. The name changed to The Chest, Heart and Stroke Association in 1975. The Association decided to focus exclusively on the area of stroke, working to reduce the effect of stroke on patients, their families, carers and the community, and changed its name to The Stroke Association in 1992.
The Organisation originated as the International Society of Gastroenterology, founded at the First International Congress of Gasteroenterology in Brussels, 1935; the Society was reconstituted as the Organisation Mondiale de Gastroentérologie or World Organisation of Gastroenterology at a joint meeting with various related American Societies in Washington DC, 1958.
George Scott Williamson:
1884 born, Ladybank Scotland; 1904 goes to Edinburgh School of Medicine; 1906 qualifies MB ChB; 1908-1910 working at Research Laboratory, West Riding Asylums Board; 1910-1919 working in Department of Pathology, University of Bristol; 1914-1918 serving in France with RAMC : Lt-Col in charge of field ambulances; mention in despatches, MC; POW in Germany for 9 months; 1919 awarded MD and Gold Medal; 1920-1926 Pathologist and Director of Pathological Studies, Royal Free Hospital; 1921 onwards engaged in thyroid and goitre work at Royal Free; 1925 gives Arris and Gale lectures, Royal College of Surgeons; 1926-1935 pathologist at Ear Nose and Throat Hospital; continues Thyroid research at St Bartholomew's with Royal College of Surgeons grant; 1950 marries Innes Pearse; 1953 Jun dies; 1969 Science Synthesis and Sanity published posthumously.
Innes Hope Pearse:
1889 born; 1916 receives LMSSA; appointment at Bristol Royal Hospital for Women and Children; 1918 House Surgeon Great Northern Hospital London; 1919 House Physician London Hospital; 1920 Demonstrator, Anatomical Department, St Thomas's Hospital; 1921 onwards engaged in thyroid and goitre work at Royal Free with Scott Williamson; 1950 marries Scott Williamson; 1969 Science Synthesis and Sanity published; 1978 28 Dec dies; 1979 The Quality of Life published
Pioneer Health Centre:
1926 Apr Founding of the first Health Centre, Peckham, at Queen's Road SE5; 1926-1929 115 families join the Centre; 1929 First Centre closed; 1931 Publication of The Case for Action, Pioneer Health Centre registered with Charity Commissioners, £10,000 subscribed by Jack Donaldson followed by another £10,000 from other sources, site on St Mary's Road Peckham chosen for purpose-designed building; 1935 May New Pioneer Health Centre opens; 1938 Publication of Biologists in Search of Material; 1939 Visit by HM Queen Mary, Centre closes for the war; 1943 Publication of The Peckham Experiment; 1945 Publication of Physician Heal Thyself; 1946 Mar Re-opening of Centre; 1948 Premiere of film about Centre; 1950 Centre closes, Williamson and Pearse marry; 1953 Jun death of Williamson; 1969 Science, Synthesis and Sanity published; 1978 Dec 28 Pearse dies; 1979 The Quality of Life published.
The Politics Of Health Group (POHG) was established in 1977; comprised of socialists and feminists working in the health service or researching health issues, it also included activists, community workers and others interested in the politics of health; the aim of the Group was to examine the link between ill health and inequality in society, and to consider improvements to the National Health Service; the group gave rise to new independent organisations including the Women's Health Information Centre and Radical Nurses, and initiated the creation of the London Food Commission; POHG disbanded in 1986.
The British Phrenological Society was established in 1886, incorporated in 1899, and disbanded in 1966-1967.
The Physiological Society was formed in March 1876 after John Burdon Sanderson invited 19 scientists interested in physiology to his house for informal discussions over how they should react to impending legislation on the use of animals in experiments. For the first four years the meetings were fairly informal and intimate affairs, with membership formally limited to forty, and business taking place over dinner in a hotel. In December 1880 the first afternoon meeting for the demonstration of experiments and presentation of results took place, a precedent which has continued, and now the demonstrations and presentations are at the core of the Society's meetings, although dinner still plays an important part. The archive contains the unpublished manuscripts of History of the Physiological Society 1926 - 1969 by HP Gilding (GB0120 SA/PHY/R.1/2), and The origin of the Physiological Society's dog, by RA Chapman (GB0120 SA/PHY/R.1/4), which was given as a presentation at a Society meeting in 1989.
The Medical Pilgrims were founded by Sir Arthur Hurst in 1928. There was a chosen membership of 20 and annual pilgramages were made to foreign and British cities.
The Prout Club was started by Hugh Baron (Secretary) and Michael Hobsley (Treasurer) as a dining club for people interested in the secretions of the stomach, in 1972; the inaugural meeting was held in conjunction with the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG); membership was limited to 50; the committee did not actually ever meet, but conducted its business by correspondence; Hobsley retired and was succeeded by David Ralphs in 1994; Baron retired and was suceeded by Roy Pounder in 1996.
The National Society for the Prevention of Venereal Disease was founded in 1919 with the aim of preventing the spread of venereal diseases by encouraging the use of preventive prophylactics. The Society was particularly active during World War Two when the risk of the spread of venereal disease increased.
The origins of the Queen's Institute lie in the fund raising organised among `the women of England' for an offering to Queen Victoria on the occasion of her Golden Jubilee in 1887. After the commission of a set of jewellery, there remained £70,000, and the Queen chose to use the money to support district nursing; a plan for a district nursing service was sketched out by William Rathbone and Florence Nightingale. The Queen's private secretary, Sir Henry Ponsonby, suggested an order of nursing sisters rewarded by honours and decorations, based at St Katherine's Hospital. (This establishment was a descendant of the medieval hospital chartered by Queen Philippa, wife of Edward III, which was originally near the Tower of London but had moved to Regent's Park following the construction of St. Katherine's Docks; the foundation had declined and it had been proposed that its funds should be redirected to the good of the sick poor.) The Rathbone/ Nightingale scheme was approved in July 1888 and a Provisional Committee set up with the Duke of Westminster as Chairman and Mr Rathbone as Honorary Secretary. The Master of St Katherine's Community, the Reverend Arthur Lewis Babbington Peile, was made President of the Jubilee Institute, and the headquarters was over the Chapter House at St Katherine's in Regent's Park. (The link whereby the Master of St. Katherine's was also the head of the Institute was formally broken in 1904.) It was hoped that funds from St Katherine's would augment those of the Institute. In 1889 Queen Victoria's Jubilee Institute for Nurses (QVJIN) was incorporated by Royal Charter.
The aims of the Institute were to apply the Queen's gift to training nurses in district work in order to supply affiliated nursing associations with thoroughly equipped workers and to put in place a body to supervise the work. The Metropolitan and National Nursing Association, established in 1876, was adopted as the central training home. District Nursing Associations were invited to apply for affiliation to the Institute.
In addition to the Queen's Nurses produced by this training, the Insitute provided less highly trained nurses for basic rural work. The Institute took on this role when in 1891 the Rural Nursing Association (started in the west of England in 1888 by Mrs Elizabeth Malleson) was affiliated to the Institute (in 1897 it merged with the Institute as the Rural District Branch). Village Nurses' needed only one year's training in hospital work, three months in midwifery and three to six months in district work; aVillage Nurse' could be employed in a district with population not exceeding 3,000 which could not afford a Queen's Nurse, or in a district already employing a Queen's Nurse where it was felt necessary to also have a Village Nurse' under her direction. A County Superintendent in each Association was responsible to the Institute for superintendence of theVillage Nurses'. District nursing associations employing other than Queen's Nurses could affiliate to a County Nursing Association.
Under the 1911 National Health Insurance Act, negotiations with the Insurance Commissioners established that approved societies might give grants to voluntary bodies for carrying out the purposes mentioned in the Act - societies paid fees to the Institute and made agreements with affiliated nursing associations for the home nursing of insured persons. In 1919 the Ministry of Health was established, its duties including supervision of the administration of the National Health Insurance Scheme by approved societies and local insurance committees. Also in 1919, the Nurses Registration Act set up the General Nursing Council, with responsibility for setting up a register of nurses and for approving training schools.
Other significant developments of the inter-war years were that in 1925 the Institute's Irish Branch became independent; in 1928 the Institute's name was changed to `The Queen's Institute of District Nursing'; and in 1936 a new Midwives Act required provision of midwives for the whole country, with many new Nursing Associations formed to provide both midwifery and nursing services.
Following the Second World War, in 1947 the Institute was approved by the Ministry of Health to give Health Visitor training for the Royal Sanitary Institute certificate. In 1948 the National Health Service was established and provident schemes became redundant. Local health authorities were responsible for the organisation of the district nursing service, either employing nurses directly or using the voluntary organisations. Subsequent negotiations enabled Local Health Authorities providing a direct service to enter into membership of the Queen's Institute. District nursing associations no longer had to pay the nurses' salaries, but continued to play a role in the running of the training homes. The NHS Act made no provision for district nurse training; in 1953 the Report of the Ministry of Health working party on the training of District Nurses (the Armer Report) accepted the need for district nurses to be trained to a national standard, but recommended only 3-4 months training (the Institute representatives dissented from this last point). In 1959, following the Report of the Training Advisory Council set up in 1957 to advise the Minister of Health, a Panel of Assessors set up; the Institute syllabus and examination arrangements were approved and from 1960, all successful candidates were awarded the National Certificate of District Nursing. By 1966 the National Certificate was felt to be sufficiently established for the award of Queen's Certificate and badge to be discontinued after midsummer 1968.
In 1973 the Institute's name was changed again, to `The Queen's Nursing Institute'.