Care of casualties from Spain (report)

              CARE OF CASUALTIES FROM SPAIN.
1. To place all returned casualties under medical supervision in this Country, until a report can be sent to the responsible comrades that the case is either (a) completely recovered or (b) in some measure suffering permanent disablement with details of nature of this disablement and any medical recommendations that can be made.
2. The responsible person should be in touch with someone, we will call the casualty organiser, by 'phone or letter and notify him simply of the fact of return of a casualty case with any relevant details.  This organiser will then notify the name and address of the doctor to whom the case will be sent. It is hoped that the organiser can further co-operate in arranging transport etc.; but this cannot of course be invariably guaranteed.
3. The casualty then becomes this doctor's own 'case'; each doctor will be in possession of a list of specialists who have volunteered to attend appropriate cases sent to them from a doctor according to the ordinary practice in such matters.    It will be the business of the doctor to follow through the case accepted by him until its completion, either treating it himself or submitting it to a specialist of one kind or another.   If the doctor in charge of the case wishes (a) to find a fresh type of specialist or (b) to obtain special treatment, or (c) to arrange for a rest home for the casualty, he will get in touch with the casualty organiser, whose business it will then be to fix up things with him as best as possible.
4. On completion of the case the doctor will send in a full report to the organiser, who will file it and communicate in full to the responsible person.   At this point, in fact, the case will pass out of the hands both of the doctor and of the casualty organiser; It will not be their business to concern themselves primarily with the problem of cases returned as suffering some permanent disability.
5. It will be the business of the organiser to possess and add to lists of (a) ordinary doctors (b) specialists of various kinds (c) rest homes, (d) volunteers with cars for transport.
6. It is obvious that in a case of this description no compulsion can be used to make casualties attend special doctors etc.   All we can do is to build up a facility that shall be at the disposal of casualties free, if they are willing to avail themselves of it. Each casualty immediately on reporting hone will be handed a paper explaning to him the facilities offered and pointing out that the responsible comrade cannot undertake to meet expenses entailed by the casualty going to doctors of his own choice.
7. We shall hope to arrange for panels of doctors in various areas in the country.    But all returned casualties should first be seen by a London doctor and passed by him to the care of a colleague in a part of the country near the patients home.   This would facilitate centralisation.    In that case there should be a rest [home]