By Wilfrid Edgecombe, M.D., F.R.C.P., F.R.C.S.
The history of the Harrogate and District General
Hospital
A turning point.
The year 1926 marked the turning point in the welfare of the
hospital by the foundation of the Contributory Scheme. which proved
eventually to be its financial salvation. The father of the scheme
was the late Canon J M Cunningham, chairman of the finance
committee, who, with Mr G G Stephenson, the honorary treasurer and Mr G Ballantyne, the
secretary. made inquiries regarding the organisation of
contributory schemes already in operation in other parts of the
country.
They drew up a code of rules and regulations, the details of
which it is unnecessary to record here; suffice it to give a general
picture of the organisation and results. The scheme was actively
launched on January 1st, 1926, and by the end of that year 6,059
members were enrolled and the income raised was £2,429. Later, in
1927, a Contributory Scheme executive committee was set up composed
of 24 members representing all the activities of Harrogate and the
surrounding districts, including the employers, and local
committees were formed in each area.
The hon secretary was Mr J H Brooksbank, of Pannal, later to
be succeeded in 1933 by Mr H W Thrower, who held office until the
winding-up of the scheme with the advent of the National Health
Service, and who still remains an active member of the management
committee.
The result was a steady increase in income year by year, the
maximum figure of £16,033 being reached in 1946. Contrast this with
the figure of £12,800 forecasted by the Norman Rae committee in 1919
as the maximum income from all sources likely to be obtained in the
foreseeable future. The total raised by the Contributory Scheme
from its inception in 1926 to the close of 1947 was £211,132
,thus abundantly justifying the statement that without it the
hospital could not possibly have carried on.
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