The statement made by the Duke of Gloucester on Tuesday
regarding the future of King Edward's Hospital Fund will reassure a number of people who have been wondering what scope there will be for voluntary effort under the new National Health Service regime. There is likely to be great scope. It may be taken for granted that in all essentials patients will be fully provided for under the new scheme, but between essentials and amenities—flowers, books, appliances of one kind and another of better quality than the standard—there is a considerable gulf. Mr. Bevan long ago made it clear that Hospital Management Committees could receive, and welcome, gifts for such purposes, and on Tuesday, Sir Wilson Jameson, Chief Medical Officer to the Ministry of Health, stressed the value of such an organisation as King Edward's Hospital Fund, working on parallel lines with the Government but entirely inde- pendent of it. The relationship will need to be worked out with
some care. There is no need to assume that under the new regime humanity in hospital treatment will be lacking, but public funds can only be expended properly on essential purposes, and where the provision of essentials ends the opportunity for voluntary help begins. The needs of the hospitals have always provided an inspiring means of expression for public sympathy and charity. It would be the greatest pity if the emotion was checked. The hospitals will no longer need to depend on begging, but they can still turn to good purpose the generosity of a public moved by the sufferings of the afflicted.
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