PubL Hlth, Lond. (1976)90, 265-270
Notes on the History of the Scottish Branch of the Society of Medical Officers of Health H. P. Tait M.D., F.R.C.P.Edin.. F.F.C.M., D.F'.H.
Senior Medica/ Officer, Lothian Health Board, Edinburgh Introduction It is a regrettable fact that, under circumstances unknown, the official minute books of the Branch from its foundation in 1891 as the Society of Medical Officers o f Health for Scotland until 1964 have disappeared. Whether irretrievably lost or merely mislaid is uncertain. However, from volumes of Public Health and other well known medical and allied journals, from files kindly lent me by Dr Andrew Curran, and from my own files, material has been gathered for this story which, it is hoped, may do some justice to the endeavours o f those who have gone before us as well as o f present colleagues. Society of Medical Officers of Health for Scotland Medical officers of health had been appointed since 1862 in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Dundee and a few other areas but the Local Governmem (Scotland) Act, 1889 made the appointment of medical officers of health compulsory in the counties. The need for co-operation and mutual aid in building up the public health service in the country became as imperative as it had been in England. The central authority in Scotland--the Board of Supervision--was a lay body, originally created to deal with the Poor Law and neither specially interested in nor competent to cope with medical matters. Local authorities were inexperienced and in some cases frankly unsympathetic. Co-ordination of effort among those responsible for safeguarding the public health in Scotland was consequently essential. On the initiative of Dr Campbell Munro (Renfrewshire) a meeting of all medical officers of health in Scotland was held on 24 April 1891 in the Royal Medical Society's rooms in Edinburgh. A committee was formed to draw up a constitution and it was resolved to hold regular cycles of meetings i'n Edinburgh, Glasgow and Perth. On 19 June, the Society of Medical Officers of Health for Scotland was formally constituted at a meeting in the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. Thirteen medical officers were present and nine others wrote approving of the formation and objectives of the new Society. Dudfield (I 906) has given a brief outline of the successful endeavours of the Society in its early years. In 1896 the Society became affiliated to the Incorporated Society of Medical Officers of Health as the Scottish Branch which held its first meeting as such at Glasgow on 29 January. The Society, however, was never formally dissolved and for a period the two bodies, Scottish Society and Scottish Branch held separate meetings and kept separate minutes. Eventually the distinction between the two bodies became overlooked and the Society functioned and was regarded as the Scottish Branch of the Society of Medical Officers of Health (Ritchie, undated). Following the publication of the Beveridge Report (1942) and the White Paper on a National Health Service (1944), some Branch members expressed the view that embarrassment and misunderstanding might be caused to the parent Society if the Branch, in dealing with Scottish matters, advocated a policy wh'~ch might differ in certain essential respects
266
H. P. Tait
t¥om the parent Society's views. To avoid this possibility a proposal was made and carried to resuscitate the Society of Medical Officers of Health for Scotland. The revived Society did, in fact, submit a separate m e m o r a n d u m on the White Paper. It was simply an expedient adopted as the simplest and most convenient way o f dealing quickly and directly with matters of special concern to Scotland. There is no evidence that the Society met again after 1944. Some Aspects of the Work of the Branch In addition to the regular meetings at which papers were read, discussions on a variety of subjects and the submission of memoranda of evidence have been features of the Branch Council's work throughout its existence. During the first decade of the present century, meetings were held with medical superintendents and matrons of infectious diseases hospitals on registration of nurses under various nursing bills introduced during that period. The Branch was unanimous that pulmonary tuberculosis should be compulsorily notifiable and it examined in great detail McVail's special report to the Poor Law Commissioners (1909). Although membership of tile Branch was depleted during World War I, there was no letup in its activities during the second decade. By I911, with 16 of its members engaged full time in school medical work, efforts were made to recruit other school ,nedical o~cers but these proved unavailing for the Association of School Medical Officers of Scotland was formed as an independent body that year. In 1967 it fused with the Branch. The sale of secret remedies, draft bills on midwives and milk and dairies, the pulmonary tuberculosis regulations (1912) sanatorium benefit, typhoid carriers and the early use of diphtheria antitoxin were considered in detail. Evidence was submitted to the Royal Commission on Housing in Scotland (1913). Judging from an account of a discussion in 1914, co-operation between civil health authorities and the military was very cordial and close. Venereal disease, the obligations of local authorities under the Notification of Births Extension Act, 1915, and the Scottish Board of Health Bill were other topics on which papers were presented and debates t o o k place. A record of all those members serving in the Forces was made and minuted. During the I920s, the Branch supported the Yorkshire Branch in a joint appeal to the Society Council to hold twice-yearly meetings in northern provincial centres, an appeal which proved unsuccessful. Similarly unsuccessful was a Branch appeal to the Yorkshire Branch (and possibly to other Branches), for support in a protest to the Society's Council on the provisions of the new Articles of Association (1919) permitting the formation of groups of specialist medical officers. The Branch felt this was detrimental to the welfare of the Society. Yet, curiously, in 1921 the Branch seriously considered the formation of a tuberculosis group but this never materialized. Salaries loomed large on the horizon at this period and the Branch, in conjunction with the Association of School Medical Officers of Scotland and the Scottish Committee of the British Medical Association, h d d a joint meeting to discuss minimum salaries of public health medical officers (1923). From this year dates concerted action through the B.M.A. on questions of salaries and conditions of service. It '~s worthy of note thatRiddell, while a member of the Scottish Branch Council of the Society, was chairrnaiab~f the Staff Side of Committee C of the Whitley Council from 1958-65, and chairman of the Scottish Council of the B.M.A. from 1965-8. In 1923, under the auspices of the Society on behalf of the Health Organization of the League of Nations, the Branch was responsible for arranging a study tour in Glasgow and Edinburgh of medical officers from Hungary, France, Poland, Belgium and Italy. Evidence
Notes on history of the Scottish Branch
267
was submitted to the Committee of Inquiry into the extent and nature of inadequacy of present hospital and auxiliary services in Scotland (Mackenzie Report, 1926) and to the Royal Commission on National Health Insurance. To round off a strenuous decade of activity, the Branch was much exercised on the provisions of the Local Government (Scotland) Act, I929. The fourth decade opened with a full discussion of the British Medical Association's proposals for a general medical service for the nation (1930). Since the school medical service was now an integral part of a local health department, the Branch recommended that principal school medical officers" annual reports should cover the period 1 January31 December, the same period as covered by medical officers' of health reports, but this appeal to the central department was rejected. During session 1933-4, the Branch submitted evidence to Departmental Committees on housing and food law. During the 1935-6 session, important memoranda were submitted to Departmental Committees on Scottish Health Services (Cathcart Committee), vagrancy and training of nurses. As might be expected with W. G. Clark as Branch secretary, the views of the Branch on the provisions of the Housing (Scotland) Bill (1935) were communicated to the Secretary of State for Scotland and Scottish Members of Parliament and during the committee stage o f the Bill in the House frequent references were made to the views of the Branch. These activities of tile Branch Council were in marked contrast to the reluctance of members to give papers. The organization and administration of casualty services exercised the attention of the Branch during 1938-9. No comments exist in Public Health of the Branch's activities during the Second World War for comparatively few meetings were held. The post-war period has been characterized by a welter of legislative measures, both proposed and actual, the issue of white papers, the enquir.ies of Royal Commissions, committees, and working parties. In all these spheres the Branch Council valiantly coped. Riddell, the honorary secretary, in his annual report for 1948-9 commented o n the enthusiasm of the Branch and the very large number of questic:ns referred to it by various bodies. Standing and sub-committees of the Council were set up to deal with these. OLwiously only some of the more important matters dealt with can be referred to here. In the belief that detailed documents submitted by the Branch to the Gillebaud Committee of Enquiry into the cost of the N.H.S., and to the working parties on district nurses, health visitors and social workers, constituted important statements of Branch policy over a major area of the public health field, the Council made available to members duplicated copies of the four documents, stapled together, under the title Blueprimsfor the Future (1956, price 3/- per copy). Evidence was also submitted to the Willink Committee on medical recruitment. During the 1960s, evidence was submitted to the Review Body on remuneration o f doctors and dentists, to the Royal Commissions on local government in Scotland, and on medical education, to the committees considering children and young persons, Scotland, (Kilbrandon Committee), general medical services in the Highlands and Islands, to the Scottish Home and Health Department on the Green Paper on the administrative reorganization of the Scottish health services, and on the White Paper Social Work and the Community. The Branch report on this last subject received wide and generally favourable comment and led to a meeting with the Scottish minister concerned, and parties of members o f Parliament. It would be tedious and unnecessary to catalogue any more of the Branch's work, but mention must be made of the part played by Dr Maud Menzies in the discussions which led to the foundation of the Faculty of Community Medicine of the Royal Colleges (1972).
268
H. P. Tait
An innovation was introduced in 1967 by Dr R. C. M. Pearson when he paid the Branch a visit during his period of office as President of the Society. Since then, each Society President has visited and addressed the Branch, a gesture much appreciated by the members. As a "Farewell to the Medical Officers of Health" the Branch held a dinner in Glasgow on 29 March 1974.
Consultative Committee of Medical Officers of Health This Committee was set up under the chairmanship of the Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health for Scotland in the early years of the Second World War. While in no way interfering with the referral to tile Branch of matters of importance for an expression of opinion or advice it served as a useful link between medical officers of central and local governments. Six important reports by subcommittees of the Committee were published-local health and social work services (1971), routine medical examination of school children (1973), reorganization and the school health service (1974), and misuse of drugs in Scotland (1970, 1972, 1975). Child Health Group This was inaugurated in 1947 largely through the efforts and enthusiasm of Dr Nora Wattle. An energetic and lively group, it held regular meetings, both day and weekend, before it ceased to exist in 1970. On two occasions it was joined by the present Maternal and Child Health G r o u p (Edinburgh, I953; Aberdeen, 1965). Prior to the formation of this group, some child heal,~h medical officers in Scotland had been members of the Society's Group and two, J. A. Stephen (Aberdeen) and T. Y. Finlay (Edinburgh) were presidents of the Group in 1929-30 and 1933-4 respectively. Meetings of that Group were held in Edinburgh (1928, 1939) and Glasgow (1934). Littlejohn-Gairdner Branch Prize and Medal In 1961 the Branch decided to offer a prize annually to 'younger members who submitted essays on subjects of public health import, the professors of social medicine at the four Scottish medical schools acting as adjudicators. Thanks to a generous donation from Mrs D. H. Hedderwick, only surviving daughter of Sir Henry Littlejohn, it became possible to award a medal and cheque to the winner. Named after the first two medical officers of health to be appointed in Scotland, who were also close personal friends, the award was made in 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971 and 1974. Refresher Courses The first venture into the organization of refresher courses by the Branch took place in 1957 with the holding of a most successful course at Peebles. This initial venture was £ollowed by other courses at Peebles (1958), and Perth (1960, 1963, 1967), Dr Ian MacQueen being the main organizer. Constitution of Branch This was amended on at least two occasions, in 1958 and 1974, the latter in keeping wJtll the change of name o f the Society and the reorganization of the health service. On the advice, o f the parent Society's solicitor the Branch heldan extraordinary meeting in February, 1969, ~o pass a resolution permitting the Branch to be registered as a charity. Membership N o figures are available until session 1936-7 when membership stood at 80. The formation o f the child health group in 1947 led to 19 new members being recruited. The 200 mark
Notes on history o f the Scottish Branch
269
was reached in 1951-2 and the highest number was recorded in 1967-8 when there were 253 members and four associates. By 1974-5 the membership had declined to 181 and three associates.
Presidents of the Society from the Scottish Branch Several graduates from Scottish medical schools have been honoured by their election to the Society's presidential chair but most held posts south of the border at the time of their election. Six members of the Scottish Branch, however, have had this distinction conferred u p o n them. These were John C. McVail (1900-01), A. K. Chalmers (1913-4), Sir Alexander S. M. Macgregor (1941-2), William George Clark (1951-2), Nora I. Wattle (1961-2), only the second woman and third non-medical officer of health to occupy the presidential chair, and J. L. Gilloran (1972-3). Notes on these and their presidential addresses are given in the Appendix. Notable Joint Meetings The parent Society held its first provincial meeting in Scotland at Glasgow in July, 1898. Sub equent provincial meetings in Scotland took place at Glasgow (1908, 1914, 1938) and Edinburgh (1925, 1952), while Society Council meetings were held at Edinburgh (1952, I973) and Glasgow (1962). Joint meetings with the North of Ireland Branch (founded 1948) were held at Glasgow (1949) and Ballygally Castle, County A~.,trim (1951). Under the constitution of the County Borough G r o u p of the Society. medical officers of health of the four cities and of large burghs in Scotland are eligible for the Group's merfibership. When lan MacQueen was president of tile Group, a joint summer school was held at Edinburgh (1961). This was the first and only visit north o f the Border paid by the Group and from all accounts this first taste of Scottish education was a pretty exhausting experience, so intensive was the course! Meetings with the Scottish Division of the former Royal Medico-Psychological Association took place in 1960, 1967 and 1968. In 1964 a joint meeting of the Branch and the Scottish Welfare Officers' Association was held when the address was given by the chief adviser to the Council for Training in Social Work. Conclusion It will be seen from this brief and very sketchy outline of the history of the Scottish Branch o f the Society that it has, by and large, been an active body, which has played a notable part in the development of public health and community medicine in Scotland. Its relations with the parent Society have been cordial with mutual respect and tolerance on both sides. Acknowledgements I am most grateful to Dr Andrew Ct,rran for kindly lending me his very complete files on the Branch's activities from 1955, and to Drs John Riddell, Ian B. L. Weir and T. Scott Wilson for their helpful comments. References Dudfield, B. (1906). Public Health. Jubilee Number devoted to the History of the Society and its Branches. Pp. 165-7; 174. Ritchie, John (undated). Memorandum circulated to members of Scottish Branch giving brief history of the origins of the Society of Medical Officers of Health for Scotland and the Scottish Branch. Probably written in 1946.
270
H. P. Tait
Appendix Presidents o f the Socieo, from Scottish Branch (1) John C. McVail (1849-1926), practised in Kilmarnock for almost 20 years before being appointed the first medical officer o f health for the counties of Sliding and Dumbarton. He was among the first to take the newly instituted D.P.H. at Cambridge (1885). Later he became one of the Scottish National Health Insurance Commissioners, and finally a member of the Scottish Board o f Health. He was internationally known as a strong protagonist of vaccination against smallpox. He discussed "'The ethics of preventive medicine" in his presidential address. (Public Health 13, 536--554.) (2) A. K. Chahners (1856-1942), was medical officer o f health for Glasgow at the time of his presidency. Pioneer in the maternity and child welfare movemeni he was a signatory of the round robin addressed to Councillor Anderson (Glasgow) and Mayor Benjamin Broadbent (Huddersfield) which directly led to the holding of the First National Conference on Infant Mortality in Great Britain (1906). F o r his presidential address he spoke on "A page in the natural history o f pulmonary tuberculosis". (Public Health 27, 36--49, with portrait.) (3) Sir Alexander S. hi. ?~Iacgregor (1881-1967), Chalmers' successor as medical officer o f health for Glasgow, was president during 1941-2. His Public llealth in Glasgow, 1905-46 (1967) is a racy account o f 40 years work in that city. He chose as his presidential address " T h e public health services in the war". (Public tIealth 55, 81-85.) (4) William George Clar~ (1890--1957), pupil and colleague of Macgregor was medical officer of health for Edinburgh during his presidency. An able administrator with a particular interest in housing he was one o f the "greats" in the history of public health in Scotland. His presidential address was entitled, " O u r affinity". (Public Health 65, 23-25.) (5) Dr Nora L Wattle was principal medical officer for maternity and child welfare in Glasgow at the time o f her presidency. She was an active member of the parent Society's maternity and child welfare group during the 1930s, and the moving spirit in founding the Scottish Branch's child health group. Her forward-looking presidential address was entitled "'Some reflections on the future". (Public lteatth 76, 4-9.) (6) James Leitch Gilloran was the last o f a distinguished group of medical officers of health for Edinburgh and played a significant part in establishing community medicine as a distinct discipline. He, too, looked into the crystal ball for his presidential address, entitled "Behold, the promised land". (Public Health 87, 57-59.)
Notes on the History of the Scottish Branch of the Society of Medical Officers of Health H. P. Tait M.D., F.R.C.P.Edin.. F.F.C.M., D.F'.H.
Senior Medica/ Officer, Lothian Health Board, Edinburgh Introduction It is a regrettable fact that, under circumstances unknown, the official minute books of the Branch from its foundation in 1891 as the Society of Medical Officers o f Health for Scotland until 1964 have disappeared. Whether irretrievably lost or merely mislaid is uncertain. However, from volumes of Public Health and other well known medical and allied journals, from files kindly lent me by Dr Andrew Curran, and from my own files, material has been gathered for this story which, it is hoped, may do some justice to the endeavours o f those who have gone before us as well as o f present colleagues. Society of Medical Officers of Health for Scotland Medical officers of health had been appointed since 1862 in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Dundee and a few other areas but the Local Governmem (Scotland) Act, 1889 made the appointment of medical officers of health compulsory in the counties. The need for co-operation and mutual aid in building up the public health service in the country became as imperative as it had been in England. The central authority in Scotland--the Board of Supervision--was a lay body, originally created to deal with the Poor Law and neither specially interested in nor competent to cope with medical matters. Local authorities were inexperienced and in some cases frankly unsympathetic. Co-ordination of effort among those responsible for safeguarding the public health in Scotland was consequently essential. On the initiative of Dr Campbell Munro (Renfrewshire) a meeting of all medical officers of health in Scotland was held on 24 April 1891 in the Royal Medical Society's rooms in Edinburgh. A committee was formed to draw up a constitution and it was resolved to hold regular cycles of meetings i'n Edinburgh, Glasgow and Perth. On 19 June, the Society of Medical Officers of Health for Scotland was formally constituted at a meeting in the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. Thirteen medical officers were present and nine others wrote approving of the formation and objectives of the new Society. Dudfield (I 906) has given a brief outline of the successful endeavours of the Society in its early years. In 1896 the Society became affiliated to the Incorporated Society of Medical Officers of Health as the Scottish Branch which held its first meeting as such at Glasgow on 29 January. The Society, however, was never formally dissolved and for a period the two bodies, Scottish Society and Scottish Branch held separate meetings and kept separate minutes. Eventually the distinction between the two bodies became overlooked and the Society functioned and was regarded as the Scottish Branch of the Society of Medical Officers of Health (Ritchie, undated). Following the publication of the Beveridge Report (1942) and the White Paper on a National Health Service (1944), some Branch members expressed the view that embarrassment and misunderstanding might be caused to the parent Society if the Branch, in dealing with Scottish matters, advocated a policy wh'~ch might differ in certain essential respects
266
H. P. Tait
t¥om the parent Society's views. To avoid this possibility a proposal was made and carried to resuscitate the Society of Medical Officers of Health for Scotland. The revived Society did, in fact, submit a separate m e m o r a n d u m on the White Paper. It was simply an expedient adopted as the simplest and most convenient way o f dealing quickly and directly with matters of special concern to Scotland. There is no evidence that the Society met again after 1944. Some Aspects of the Work of the Branch In addition to the regular meetings at which papers were read, discussions on a variety of subjects and the submission of memoranda of evidence have been features of the Branch Council's work throughout its existence. During the first decade of the present century, meetings were held with medical superintendents and matrons of infectious diseases hospitals on registration of nurses under various nursing bills introduced during that period. The Branch was unanimous that pulmonary tuberculosis should be compulsorily notifiable and it examined in great detail McVail's special report to the Poor Law Commissioners (1909). Although membership of tile Branch was depleted during World War I, there was no letup in its activities during the second decade. By I911, with 16 of its members engaged full time in school medical work, efforts were made to recruit other school ,nedical o~cers but these proved unavailing for the Association of School Medical Officers of Scotland was formed as an independent body that year. In 1967 it fused with the Branch. The sale of secret remedies, draft bills on midwives and milk and dairies, the pulmonary tuberculosis regulations (1912) sanatorium benefit, typhoid carriers and the early use of diphtheria antitoxin were considered in detail. Evidence was submitted to the Royal Commission on Housing in Scotland (1913). Judging from an account of a discussion in 1914, co-operation between civil health authorities and the military was very cordial and close. Venereal disease, the obligations of local authorities under the Notification of Births Extension Act, 1915, and the Scottish Board of Health Bill were other topics on which papers were presented and debates t o o k place. A record of all those members serving in the Forces was made and minuted. During the I920s, the Branch supported the Yorkshire Branch in a joint appeal to the Society Council to hold twice-yearly meetings in northern provincial centres, an appeal which proved unsuccessful. Similarly unsuccessful was a Branch appeal to the Yorkshire Branch (and possibly to other Branches), for support in a protest to the Society's Council on the provisions of the new Articles of Association (1919) permitting the formation of groups of specialist medical officers. The Branch felt this was detrimental to the welfare of the Society. Yet, curiously, in 1921 the Branch seriously considered the formation of a tuberculosis group but this never materialized. Salaries loomed large on the horizon at this period and the Branch, in conjunction with the Association of School Medical Officers of Scotland and the Scottish Committee of the British Medical Association, h d d a joint meeting to discuss minimum salaries of public health medical officers (1923). From this year dates concerted action through the B.M.A. on questions of salaries and conditions of service. It '~s worthy of note thatRiddell, while a member of the Scottish Branch Council of the Society, was chairrnaiab~f the Staff Side of Committee C of the Whitley Council from 1958-65, and chairman of the Scottish Council of the B.M.A. from 1965-8. In 1923, under the auspices of the Society on behalf of the Health Organization of the League of Nations, the Branch was responsible for arranging a study tour in Glasgow and Edinburgh of medical officers from Hungary, France, Poland, Belgium and Italy. Evidence
Notes on history of the Scottish Branch
267
was submitted to the Committee of Inquiry into the extent and nature of inadequacy of present hospital and auxiliary services in Scotland (Mackenzie Report, 1926) and to the Royal Commission on National Health Insurance. To round off a strenuous decade of activity, the Branch was much exercised on the provisions of the Local Government (Scotland) Act, I929. The fourth decade opened with a full discussion of the British Medical Association's proposals for a general medical service for the nation (1930). Since the school medical service was now an integral part of a local health department, the Branch recommended that principal school medical officers" annual reports should cover the period 1 January31 December, the same period as covered by medical officers' of health reports, but this appeal to the central department was rejected. During session 1933-4, the Branch submitted evidence to Departmental Committees on housing and food law. During the 1935-6 session, important memoranda were submitted to Departmental Committees on Scottish Health Services (Cathcart Committee), vagrancy and training of nurses. As might be expected with W. G. Clark as Branch secretary, the views of the Branch on the provisions of the Housing (Scotland) Bill (1935) were communicated to the Secretary of State for Scotland and Scottish Members of Parliament and during the committee stage o f the Bill in the House frequent references were made to the views of the Branch. These activities of tile Branch Council were in marked contrast to the reluctance of members to give papers. The organization and administration of casualty services exercised the attention of the Branch during 1938-9. No comments exist in Public Health of the Branch's activities during the Second World War for comparatively few meetings were held. The post-war period has been characterized by a welter of legislative measures, both proposed and actual, the issue of white papers, the enquir.ies of Royal Commissions, committees, and working parties. In all these spheres the Branch Council valiantly coped. Riddell, the honorary secretary, in his annual report for 1948-9 commented o n the enthusiasm of the Branch and the very large number of questic:ns referred to it by various bodies. Standing and sub-committees of the Council were set up to deal with these. OLwiously only some of the more important matters dealt with can be referred to here. In the belief that detailed documents submitted by the Branch to the Gillebaud Committee of Enquiry into the cost of the N.H.S., and to the working parties on district nurses, health visitors and social workers, constituted important statements of Branch policy over a major area of the public health field, the Council made available to members duplicated copies of the four documents, stapled together, under the title Blueprimsfor the Future (1956, price 3/- per copy). Evidence was also submitted to the Willink Committee on medical recruitment. During the 1960s, evidence was submitted to the Review Body on remuneration o f doctors and dentists, to the Royal Commissions on local government in Scotland, and on medical education, to the committees considering children and young persons, Scotland, (Kilbrandon Committee), general medical services in the Highlands and Islands, to the Scottish Home and Health Department on the Green Paper on the administrative reorganization of the Scottish health services, and on the White Paper Social Work and the Community. The Branch report on this last subject received wide and generally favourable comment and led to a meeting with the Scottish minister concerned, and parties of members o f Parliament. It would be tedious and unnecessary to catalogue any more of the Branch's work, but mention must be made of the part played by Dr Maud Menzies in the discussions which led to the foundation of the Faculty of Community Medicine of the Royal Colleges (1972).
268
H. P. Tait
An innovation was introduced in 1967 by Dr R. C. M. Pearson when he paid the Branch a visit during his period of office as President of the Society. Since then, each Society President has visited and addressed the Branch, a gesture much appreciated by the members. As a "Farewell to the Medical Officers of Health" the Branch held a dinner in Glasgow on 29 March 1974.
Consultative Committee of Medical Officers of Health This Committee was set up under the chairmanship of the Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health for Scotland in the early years of the Second World War. While in no way interfering with the referral to tile Branch of matters of importance for an expression of opinion or advice it served as a useful link between medical officers of central and local governments. Six important reports by subcommittees of the Committee were published-local health and social work services (1971), routine medical examination of school children (1973), reorganization and the school health service (1974), and misuse of drugs in Scotland (1970, 1972, 1975). Child Health Group This was inaugurated in 1947 largely through the efforts and enthusiasm of Dr Nora Wattle. An energetic and lively group, it held regular meetings, both day and weekend, before it ceased to exist in 1970. On two occasions it was joined by the present Maternal and Child Health G r o u p (Edinburgh, I953; Aberdeen, 1965). Prior to the formation of this group, some child heal,~h medical officers in Scotland had been members of the Society's Group and two, J. A. Stephen (Aberdeen) and T. Y. Finlay (Edinburgh) were presidents of the Group in 1929-30 and 1933-4 respectively. Meetings of that Group were held in Edinburgh (1928, 1939) and Glasgow (1934). Littlejohn-Gairdner Branch Prize and Medal In 1961 the Branch decided to offer a prize annually to 'younger members who submitted essays on subjects of public health import, the professors of social medicine at the four Scottish medical schools acting as adjudicators. Thanks to a generous donation from Mrs D. H. Hedderwick, only surviving daughter of Sir Henry Littlejohn, it became possible to award a medal and cheque to the winner. Named after the first two medical officers of health to be appointed in Scotland, who were also close personal friends, the award was made in 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971 and 1974. Refresher Courses The first venture into the organization of refresher courses by the Branch took place in 1957 with the holding of a most successful course at Peebles. This initial venture was £ollowed by other courses at Peebles (1958), and Perth (1960, 1963, 1967), Dr Ian MacQueen being the main organizer. Constitution of Branch This was amended on at least two occasions, in 1958 and 1974, the latter in keeping wJtll the change of name o f the Society and the reorganization of the health service. On the advice, o f the parent Society's solicitor the Branch heldan extraordinary meeting in February, 1969, ~o pass a resolution permitting the Branch to be registered as a charity. Membership N o figures are available until session 1936-7 when membership stood at 80. The formation o f the child health group in 1947 led to 19 new members being recruited. The 200 mark
Notes on history o f the Scottish Branch
269
was reached in 1951-2 and the highest number was recorded in 1967-8 when there were 253 members and four associates. By 1974-5 the membership had declined to 181 and three associates.
Presidents of the Society from the Scottish Branch Several graduates from Scottish medical schools have been honoured by their election to the Society's presidential chair but most held posts south of the border at the time of their election. Six members of the Scottish Branch, however, have had this distinction conferred u p o n them. These were John C. McVail (1900-01), A. K. Chalmers (1913-4), Sir Alexander S. M. Macgregor (1941-2), William George Clark (1951-2), Nora I. Wattle (1961-2), only the second woman and third non-medical officer of health to occupy the presidential chair, and J. L. Gilloran (1972-3). Notes on these and their presidential addresses are given in the Appendix. Notable Joint Meetings The parent Society held its first provincial meeting in Scotland at Glasgow in July, 1898. Sub equent provincial meetings in Scotland took place at Glasgow (1908, 1914, 1938) and Edinburgh (1925, 1952), while Society Council meetings were held at Edinburgh (1952, I973) and Glasgow (1962). Joint meetings with the North of Ireland Branch (founded 1948) were held at Glasgow (1949) and Ballygally Castle, County A~.,trim (1951). Under the constitution of the County Borough G r o u p of the Society. medical officers of health of the four cities and of large burghs in Scotland are eligible for the Group's merfibership. When lan MacQueen was president of tile Group, a joint summer school was held at Edinburgh (1961). This was the first and only visit north o f the Border paid by the Group and from all accounts this first taste of Scottish education was a pretty exhausting experience, so intensive was the course! Meetings with the Scottish Division of the former Royal Medico-Psychological Association took place in 1960, 1967 and 1968. In 1964 a joint meeting of the Branch and the Scottish Welfare Officers' Association was held when the address was given by the chief adviser to the Council for Training in Social Work. Conclusion It will be seen from this brief and very sketchy outline of the history of the Scottish Branch o f the Society that it has, by and large, been an active body, which has played a notable part in the development of public health and community medicine in Scotland. Its relations with the parent Society have been cordial with mutual respect and tolerance on both sides. Acknowledgements I am most grateful to Dr Andrew Ct,rran for kindly lending me his very complete files on the Branch's activities from 1955, and to Drs John Riddell, Ian B. L. Weir and T. Scott Wilson for their helpful comments. References Dudfield, B. (1906). Public Health. Jubilee Number devoted to the History of the Society and its Branches. Pp. 165-7; 174. Ritchie, John (undated). Memorandum circulated to members of Scottish Branch giving brief history of the origins of the Society of Medical Officers of Health for Scotland and the Scottish Branch. Probably written in 1946.
270
H. P. Tait
Appendix Presidents o f the Socieo, from Scottish Branch (1) John C. McVail (1849-1926), practised in Kilmarnock for almost 20 years before being appointed the first medical officer o f health for the counties of Sliding and Dumbarton. He was among the first to take the newly instituted D.P.H. at Cambridge (1885). Later he became one of the Scottish National Health Insurance Commissioners, and finally a member of the Scottish Board o f Health. He was internationally known as a strong protagonist of vaccination against smallpox. He discussed "'The ethics of preventive medicine" in his presidential address. (Public Health 13, 536--554.) (2) A. K. Chahners (1856-1942), was medical officer o f health for Glasgow at the time of his presidency. Pioneer in the maternity and child welfare movemeni he was a signatory of the round robin addressed to Councillor Anderson (Glasgow) and Mayor Benjamin Broadbent (Huddersfield) which directly led to the holding of the First National Conference on Infant Mortality in Great Britain (1906). F o r his presidential address he spoke on "A page in the natural history o f pulmonary tuberculosis". (Public Health 27, 36--49, with portrait.) (3) Sir Alexander S. hi. ?~Iacgregor (1881-1967), Chalmers' successor as medical officer o f health for Glasgow, was president during 1941-2. His Public llealth in Glasgow, 1905-46 (1967) is a racy account o f 40 years work in that city. He chose as his presidential address " T h e public health services in the war". (Public tIealth 55, 81-85.) (4) William George Clar~ (1890--1957), pupil and colleague of Macgregor was medical officer of health for Edinburgh during his presidency. An able administrator with a particular interest in housing he was one o f the "greats" in the history of public health in Scotland. His presidential address was entitled, " O u r affinity". (Public Health 65, 23-25.) (5) Dr Nora L Wattle was principal medical officer for maternity and child welfare in Glasgow at the time o f her presidency. She was an active member of the parent Society's maternity and child welfare group during the 1930s, and the moving spirit in founding the Scottish Branch's child health group. Her forward-looking presidential address was entitled "'Some reflections on the future". (Public lteatth 76, 4-9.) (6) James Leitch Gilloran was the last o f a distinguished group of medical officers of health for Edinburgh and played a significant part in establishing community medicine as a distinct discipline. He, too, looked into the crystal ball for his presidential address, entitled "Behold, the promised land". (Public Health 87, 57-59.)
