Socialist Health Association

The Socialist Medical Association (SMA) has its origins in the meeting in summer 1930 between Dr Charles Brook and Dr Ewald Fabian, Secretary of a German organisation of socialist doctors, who commented on the lack of a similar organisation in Britain, following the demise of the State Medical Service Association. In response Brook convened a meeting in London on 21 September at the National Labour Club which resulted in the formation of the SMA, with Brook as Secretary and Dr Somerville Hastings, Labour MP for Reading, as the first President. A constitution was agreed in early November, incorporating the basic aims of a socialised medical service, free and open to all, and the promotion of a high standard of health for the people of Britain. The association also committed itself to the dissemination of socialism within the medical profession and the support of `medical Members of Parliament'. The SMA was open to all doctors and members of allied professions, such as dentists, nurses and pharmacists, who were socialists and subscribed to its aims. International links were established through the International Socialist Medical Association, based in Prague, of which Dr Fabian was also Secretary.

The appointment of a Research Sub-Committee in November 1930 to address the practical questions of a socialised medical service resulted in the SMA's first major publication in 1931, namely For a healthy London . This document formed the basis of the policy of the London County Council (LCC) after the Labour victory in the 1934 LCC elections. In 1931 the SMA affiliated to the Labour Party and subsequently exerted an important influence on Labour health policy, particularly following the publication of its programme, A socialised medical service, in 1933. At the annual party conference in 1932 a resolution calling for a national health service to be an immediate priority of a Labour government was passed and two years later conference accepted a document entitled The people's health prepared by SMA members.

...