Research On The Medical Aid Status Of The Poverty-stricken Homes Under The New Poverty Relief Law In The 19th Century

The workhouse was established in the early 17th century to provide shelter for tramps and beggars.At the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century,with the increase of medical needs in hospitals,poor hospitals began to provide medical assistance.However,at this time,the workhouse can only provide a basic medical assistance service.There are many problems,and the service quality and level are low.It cannot meet the medical assistance needs in the workhouse and deal with new medical problems under the new historical background.With the change of social structure and the aggravation of the poverty problem,the British House of Commons passed the draft of the new Poor Law and decided to build and expand the poor house.The relief status in the hospital rose and became the core of the poor system of the new Poor Law.Among them,hospital medical assistance plays an important role in the whole relief system.Starting from the 1 840s,the British government,on the basis of the new Poor Law,successively promulgated relevant laws to reform the Poor House.Reform ran through the second half of the 19th century,and the medical aid service in workhouses was improved.From the perspective of patient management,the workhouse under the new workhouse law began to classify patients according to age and disease type.From the age point of view,the elderly and children are the main part of the poor hospital patients;Judging from the types of diseases,infectious diseases,chronic diseases dominated by mental diseases and acute diseases are the main types of diseases in the workhouse.Poor’s Hospital adopts different treatment methods for different diseases.Humoral therapy is the common treatment method for almost all patients.In addition to the treatment of patients’ diseases,medical assistance in the workhouse also includes providing patients with isolation wards and diets conducive to physical recovery.From the 1840s onwards,the qualifications and duties of medical officers in the workhouse began to be gradually defined and refined.The qualifications of medical officers were improved.Quack doctors and quack doctors were gradually excluded from the workhouse team,thus ensuring the quality of medical assistance for patients in the workhouse.Since the 1960s,workhouses have started to employ nurses who have received professional training.Illiterate and poor nursing staff no longer undertake professional nursing work.Hospital medical staff have begun to take a professional path.Specialization and professionalization of medical personnel have improved the quality of hospital medical assistance services,which in turn has also promoted the specialization and professionalization of hospital medical personnel.With the professionalization of medical personnel,the relationship between doctors and patients in the hospital has changed,the patients’ right to speak and dispose of their bodies has further declined,and medical personnel have established their authority.In addition,the guardians and medical officers of the workhouse have different standpoints and purposes,resulting in conflicts and contradictions in the treatment and management of patients in the hospital and the remuneration of medical officers.Poor’s Hospital adheres to the principle of economic medicine and saves hospital medical expenses,which directly or indirectly leads to various problems in hospital medical care,such as medical negligence and overcrowding.Despite the existing problems,the workhouse under the new workhouse law has not only met the medical needs of patients in the workhouse,but also made important contributions to the prevention and treatment of local infectious diseases and the development of British medical education,laying a foundation for the British national health service system in the 20th century.