The Socialist Medical Association (now Socialist Health Association) can trace its roots back to 1912 when the State Medical Services Association was established by a Dr Benjamin Moore of Liverpool.
The origins of the Socialist Medical Association (SMA) lay in the meeting in the 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 1930 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 November 1930, incorporating the basic aims of a socialised medical service,
To work for a Socialised Medical Service both preventive and curative, free and open to all
To secure for the people the highest possible standard of health
To disseminate the principles of socialism within the medical and allied service
The Socialist Medical 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
NOTE
COHSE had close links with the Socialist Medical Association and Dr Charles Brook (and his wife Iris Brook a nurse) was a NUCO and COHSE member and activist
