Formation of SMAC by Dr Charles Brook

Extract from

Making Medical History circa 1946

By Dr Charles Brook (COHSE , GP, LCC member)

The other activity with which the Socialist Medical Association was so closely associated and which, without the help of the Association would never have achieved such success, was the establishment of the Spanish Medical Aid Committee. My friend, Arthur Peacock, has given an excellent account of
the development and the achievements of the Committee in his recently
published book "Yours Fraternally". Let me quote one paragraph.

“One afternoon in July I had a visit from Dr Charles Brook, General Practioner & L.C.C member who was Secretary of the Socialist Medical Association. “Do you think, Charles asked me “it would be a good idea if we Socialist Doctors sent some medical supplies to Spain as a gesture of sympathy and good fellowship”. I told him that I thought it would be magnificent and promised to let him have a room at the National trade Union Club on the following Saturday afternoon so that he and his friends might discuss the project”.

Actually it was at lunch-time on. Friday, July 31^st that I discussed the matter with Clifford Troke, and immediately afterwards there was the conversation with Arthur Peacock. The meeting I convened for the following afternoon by hurriedly written postcards and by telephone calls, was very well attended despite the fact that it was the Saturday prior to August Bank Holiday. (SMAC established 1^st August) , .

After I had made a statement setting out ray reasons for convening the meeting it was there and then decided to constitute "The Spanish Medical Aid Committee" and although I was hopeful that I might then be allowed to retire into the background the Honorary Secretaryship was thrust upon me.

The majority of the Committee were members of the S.M.A. Christopher
Addison was the president, H.B. Morgan as Chairman , and Somerville-Hastings the Vice-Chairman. Among the other medical members were Harry Boyde, Michael Elyan, J.A. Gillison LCC, D’Arcy Hart, Tudor Hart, S.W. Jeger, R.L. Worrall and Prof J. R. Marrack. Non-Medical members included Ellen Wilkinson,, Leah Manning, Isabel .Brown, Arthur Peacock, and the Joint-Treasurers, Viscount Churchill and Viscountess Hastings, (now the Hon. Mrs Wogan- Phillips). Lord Addison was not called upon to take a very active part in the work of the Committee, but he showed great courage when, contrary to the advice tendered by some people in high places, he presided at a great meeting at the Albert Hall in Support of the Work of the Committee.

As Chairman H. B. Morgan proved himself to be an extremely able and tactful negotiator. Being a roman catholic he was able to neutralise the powerful pro-Franco elements in his Church, while as Medical Adviser to the T.U.C. he was an invaluable go-between when certain awkward situations arose.

Somerville-Hastings, I was especially indebted. Many volunteers came into the Committees office to lend a hand, but it was impossible to check their bona-fides and as much of my correspondence was strictly confidential, I was in urgent need of a private secretary. When I put the position to Somerville Hastings, he immediately handed, me £25 on order help defray the cost, without it being a charge on the Committees funds.

Within a few day’s of the Committee being established, the public response was so generous and there were so many volunteers for service in Spain that my original idea of sending some medical supplies was replaced by a far more ambitious project the dispatching of a fully-equipped and adequately staffed Medical Unit to the battle front.

Soon after this project was agreed to, I made up my mind that the first-British Medical Unit had got to be ready to leave by Sunday, 23rd August 1936, and on that day thousands of Londoners were stirred by the sight of a procession of vehicles going from the Committee's Headquarters to Victoria Station, where in the presence of a vast crowd and many London Mayors, Arthur Greenwood and. Alan Findlay, then Chairman of the General Council of the T.U.C. delivered valedictory speeches.

This was just three weeks after the Spanish Medical Aid Committee had been constituted and it was the first real practical demonstration of support for the Spanish Republicans which sympathisers in the country had provided.

I remained as Honorary Secretary, of the Committee until the end of 1936 when George Jeger, now M.P. for Winchester, was appointed full-time Organising Secretary, I was able to relinquish my office,

Spanish Medical Aid Committee estb 1st August 1936

Formation of the British SMAC

Spanish Medical Aid Committee was established on 1st August 1936

The enthusiasm and selflessness of everyone helping was such that in less than two weeks the preparatory work was complete, and on Sunday evening, August 23rd the first British Medical Unit for Spain (The first from any country) left Victoria, led by Viscount Churchill (Hon. Treasurer of the Committee), with Kenneth Sinclair-Loutit as Administrator.

Tremendous interest was aroused by its departure, and great crowds gathered at Victoria Station, 10,000 more marched from Hyde Park and paraded past the young men and women as they stood in Buckingham Palace Road. At the Station the Rt. Hon. Arthur Greenwood, M.P., representing the Labour Party, and Allan A. Findlay, representing the T.U.C. General Council, Lord Latham of the LCC and the Mayors of six London Borough's wished " Godspeed " to the men and women who so courageously were setting out to help the wounded on the battlefields of Spain.

Continuously since then the Committee has carried on its activities. Meetings, demonstrations, social functions have been organised all over the country. A net-work of local committees has been formed to assist with the vital task of rousing public sympathy and raising money.

Over £44,000 has been collected, and it has all been spent supplying the various necessities for which requests have been made by those directing the medical services in Spain. That so large a sum has been collected is a striking

tribute to the feeling of solidarity existing between the people of Spain and Great Britain.

Almost every week ambulances, medical supplies or additional personnel have gone out to the hospitals of Spain.

Wherever help has been sought it has been gladly given; wherever medical aid has been requested it has been promptly sent.

NOTE

SMAC Committee 1937

(Dr Charles Brook (GP & COHSE) as Secretary, Dr Hyacinth Morgan as Chairman, Dr Christopher Addison MP as President, Dr Somerville-Hastings as Vice Chairman, , Isaobel Brown, Lady Hastings, Prof J.R. Marrack, Dr Philip D'Arcy Hart, Ellen Wilkinson MP, Leah Manning Pres of NUT, Arthur Pocock, Lord Farringdon, Frederick Le Gros Clark. Headquarters of SMAC at the Trade Union Club 24 New Oxford Street, London, WC1

From booklet Medical Aid For Spain circa 1937

COHSE Medical Services Guild

COHSE Medical Services Guild.

BREAKING DOWN CLASS BARRIERS IN DRIVE FOR 100% TRADES UNIONISM

The Medical Services Guild is rapidly becoming one of the most virile sections within the Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE)

At long last, doctors, hospital technicians, and other specialist grades are realising that Olympian aloofness is no match for Trade Union solidarity in gaining long-overdue improvements in salaries and conditions of service, with tile result that there is a steady stream of recruits—doctors, dentists, pharmacists, radiologists, etc.—towards the goal of ONE organisation of ALL Health Workers to meet the changes of the coming National Health Service.

Highly successful open meetings have been held recently in London, and Miss L. Mitchell, the Guild's Hon. Secretary, 123 Brownlow Road, New Southgate, London, has been inundated with inquiries.

At the first of these over which Dr. Jeger, (Member of Parliament), the COHSE Guild's London Regional Chairman, presided, Dr. Charles Brook, leader of the Labour Group on the Kent County Council, stressed that the Guild in no way conflicted with the strictly professional bodies like the B.M.A., or the B.D.A., etc., in which Guild members should still retain their membership.

When he was a member of the L.C.C., he had seen many examples of the professional bodies putting cases very badly in contrast with our own Organisation, and C.O.H.S.E., with its well-established machinery and competent officers in every region, could meet the needs of all Health Workers employed in
the new Health Service.

The proposed Regional Boards were bound to give decisions from time to time affecting all sections, which made the need for a united body all the more essential.

Dr. Charles Brook stressed there was full democratic control in our Organisation, and said in the "teething stage" of the new Health Centres there were bound to be problems which could lie examined by each section or guild and by the Organisation as a whole.

Under the wise guidance of the General Secretary and the Union officials, the Medical Services Guild would prove in-valuable to those employed in the new Health Service. Any member would have the full support and backing of a large and powerful organisation.

This aspect was also touched upon by Dr. Jeger, who said that C.O.H.S.E. knew no class distinction. The only concession to the various sections was to organise them in their own particular Guild in order that special matters relating to the individual sections could be thoroughly discussed.

The aim of the Confederation was to raise the standard of service, and to see to it that everybody employed in the Service worked under ideal conditions.

Other speakers emphasised that technical staffs had been less successful than other Health Workers in securing improvements because they had not been so well organised.

Mr. Kirby, a radiographer, said they had only to look at the new wage scales to see what a mess the professional bodies had made.

"The medical ancillary services," he added, "used to think the professional bodies would do all that was necessary for them, but if we are to conduct negotiations with the Health Minister and other bodies concerned, our organisation within the Confederation is essential."

As a pharmacist of 20 years' standing, Miss Mitchell said special departments in the hospitals had developed enormously, and although they were staffed by officers with the highest qualifications, pay and conditions left much to be desired.

The Minister of Health had said that if the Services concerned were better organised they could speak with a stronger voice. By affiliation to the T.U.C. the Confederation had the weight of organised workers in support. Already in the Voluntary Hospital Service better conditions prevailed due to organised effort. Members of all grades had got together as never before. This was growing and should continue to do so. In closing, Miss Mitchell urged full co-operation to meet the changes about to take place in the Health Service.

Replying to a questioner, who said ancillary services had not obtained as many concessions as other grades, Miss Mitchell stressed that when wage rates were under discussion employing bodies knew that professional organisations would be easier to deal with and, therefore, the Trade Union representatives were not invited, with results which are now apparent.

Another questioner asked if there was adequate representation of the various sections within tile Confederation Dr Brook, in reply, outlined the Organisation within the Regions and stated that where Advisory Committees to the various Guilds were established, the endeavor was always to make such Committees widely representative of the various grades within the Guild.

Dr. Richard Doll urged that C.O.H.S.E. should consider giving financial aid to Health Workers who sought to qualify for higher posts by part-time study.

Other replies stressed that there was no discrimination against members who "contracted-out" from the affiliation fee to the Labour Party, and to one questioner who suggested that Labour Party affiliation was a handicap in fighting Labour-controlled authority. Dr. Brook said from his own experience the two original bodies of C.O.H.S.E., the old Mental Health & Intuitional Workers Union and National Union County Officers, had always been the strongest fighters on behalf of their members, no matter which party controlled the authority.,-

Feb 1947

Dr. Charles Wortham Brook

Dr. Charles Wortham Brook, CBE

It is with deep regret that we record the death of Charles Brook, a lifelong fighter for the poor, the rich and the disadvantaged. He felt compassion and concern both for the individual and the group and he had a fierce intolerance of injustice and no time for stupidity. He was described as "a gentle insurgent" and the phrase suited him well.

Charles was born in January 1901 in Lincoln into a comfortably established middle class family of Tory views, his father being an ophthalmologist From his earliest years he was a rebel and his family were shocked when he became secretary of the Cambridge University Socialist Society. When he was a medical student at Bart's he met and married Iris Benyon, a nurse who was herself no mean fighter for women in general and for nurses in particular (NUCO Guild of Nurses & COHSE). Twins followed and later he was to become a devoted grand-father. This was to be a lifelong alliance which provided support and security to each.

In the twenties of this century socialist doctors in Germany and Austria had
already organised themselves into groups several hundreds strong and were influencing public opinion through medico-political discussions and publications. Here however it was not until 1930 that a similar body came into being 'as a result of correspondence between Charles and Dr. Ewald Fabian, a Berlin dentist.

Charles was a busy roan - he was a general practitioner and a London County Councillor - and he was reluctant to agree to Dr. Fabian's suggestion that he should form a similar group here. However he did finally write a letter published in the Daily Herald, inviting doctors "who might be interested in forming a body of socialist doctors" to get in touch with him. As a result a preliminary meeting was held in December 1930 and on November 2nd that year a constitution was adopted at a meeting over which Somerville Hastings, then M.P. for Reading, presided. The founder-members agreed that the name of the body should be the Socialist Medical Association. From the beginning other health workers such as nurses and social workers became members. Both Charles and Somerville Hastings were certain that to be effective the new body must be affiliated to the Labour Party and its constitution was framed in accordance with Labour Party views.

The S.M.A. at once set to work to elaborate a statement of policy on the best way to provide health services free to all at the time of need, and in 1932 the Labour Party Conference passed an S.M.A. resolution calling for a state medical service. The 1934 Conference accepted a document on a National Health Service.

Charles Brook's reluctant initiative had borne rapid fruit. He continued as Hon. Secretary until 1938 when the pressures of his many activities led to his resignation. He remained a Vice-president for the rest of his life and he continued to take a great interest in S.M.A. activities, though of recent years from a distance.

He was a founder member of Spanish Medical Aid in August 1936 which provided invaluable medical help of many kinds to the Spanish Republican Government forces and the International Brigade. Some 20 doctors from Western countries went to Spain and he was also able to help those from Germany and Austria who after Franco's victory could not return to their own countries.

He was at one time a London County Councillor and it was a report of his speech demanding better facilities in Tooting that led to Dr. Fabian's letter.

Later when he was in practice in Eltham he became a Kent County Councillor and leader of the Labour group on it. He had a life-long interest in the theatre and at one time thought of becoming a professional actor.

This account may give some idea of Charles' many interests and activities. Perhaps Ted Willis best summed up his personality when in his appreciation of him in Socialism and Health Jan/Feb 1972 he said "He has based his entire life on the principle that anything that is wrong and anti-human is every-man's business and concern".

Elizabeth Bunbury

SHA newsletter Nov/Dec 1983

Note

The Brooks lived at Mottingdeane, High Road, Mottingham, London, SE9

Wife Iris Beynon organiser NUCO/COHSE

Dr Charles Brook - Making Medical History London 1946