General Practice in East Lothian, 1946-1966

The practice in which I worked was centred on Ormiston and extended from Haddington in the east to near Dalkeith in the west and southwards up to and into the Lammermuir hills.

In 1946 many doctors were single-handed and most, including me, had surgeries in their houses.

My new partner and I built a surgery outside my house. It had a consulting room, a waiting room and a room serving as laboratory, spare consulting room and eventually an office for a secretary.

In 1946, people who worked obtained doctor and medicine under the old (1911) NHI Act. Others, mostly wives and families, were private patients and were charged five shillings (25 pence) or so per visit. Most doctors had flexible fees which varied from nothing for the very poor to more than five shillings for the better off. Ormiston was a coalmining village and all colliers, whether married or not, paid sixpence (2.5p) a week to the doctor of their choice for medical attendance and medicine for their families.

The changing culture over half a century is shown by the waiting room being full on Christmas morning in 1946 (the Scots not having heard of Xmas) while on New Year's Day no one came and only severe hangovers merited a call.

Not all doctors had good premises. I remember one with 4 dining room chairs for an examination couch and no wash basin.

Otitis media was widespread and apart from generating mastoidectomies, led to chronic running ears being common, so common that mothers usually did not mention the discharge. The arrival of penicillin in civil life in 1947 produced a revolution in treating otitis media and eventually to the disappearance of running ears. In those days measles was common, in epidemics, as were whooping cough, rubella, varicella (chickenpox) and mumps. Deaths were rare from these.

Dr J S Milne

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