The Role of the Consumer in Health Services - Development and Organization of Health Services - Social Thought

Sep 21, 2026

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Speech text describing the consumer’s role in health services, emphasizing the shift from patients as passive recipients to active stakeholders with rights to question and exercise appropriate controls over providers. It outlines who “the consumer” includes—everyone in the population from birth to death—and explains why consumer awareness has grown in modern societies. It portrays consumers as organizing in protest, seeking better explanations, stronger regulation, and greater attention to quality, economics, and safety.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Social Thought

Selections of Social Significance

Development and Organization of Health Services

TITLE The Role of the Consumer in thGUBJECT Date Provision,Development and AUTHOROrganization of Hea1th Services Dr.A.F.Laidlaw SOURCE Item No. Address at Regiona1 Conference on Hea1th ServicesBanff,A1berta -Apri19~12,1967 # Soeial Thought Selections 'of Social Sig n ifican ce The Article "In summary,consumers wi11 reserve the right to question and ex-ercise appr opriate controls over any per son or institution wishingto serve them,and this goes for every expert whether he beengineer or architect,civi1 servant or scientist,medica1 doctoror theologian.Of course,consumers are usua11y not so foolishas to interfere with the trained man in his field of competencybut they want and intend to have certain rights。In the field weare discussing here this means two things particular¹y:certaincontrols over the quality of medica1 care,and a partnership inthe economics of medica1 services." The Author Dr.Laid1aw,a native of Port Hood,Nova Scotia,is nationa1secretary of the Co-operative Union of Canada.He is a graduateof St.Francis Xavier University and the University of Toronto.His doctoral thesis at Toronto University was entit1ed: "TheCampus and the Community"and deals with the place of the univer-sity in adu1t education,using St.Francis Xavier University as anexample. Dr.Laid1aw was active in adu1t education and the co-operative movement for a bout fourteen years in the Maritime Provinces before moving onto the nationa1 and internationa1 scene.More recent1y,he has served as consu1tant or as 1ecturer innear1y every corner of the wor1d where adu1t education and theco-operative movement were in question. He likewise servespresent1y on many Canadian committees on adu1t education,inter-nationa1 development,etc.In 1961,he was awarded the degree ofDoctor of Laws by St.Francis Xavier University. "They that are learned shall sbine as the brightrness of the firnament;andthey that instruct manzy to justice,as stars for all eterznity.”(Daniel 12) DEVELOPMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF HEALTH SERVICES I consider it a great privilege to speak at this conference forthe person on the receiving end of hea1th services,for those whohappen to be patients today and the rest who wil1 a1most certain1y bepatients tomorrow,in short for al1 those for whom,presumab1y,hea1thservices are designed and orga nized. Of course,in a way it has al ways been ass umed that hea1th ser-vices are for those who need them and are going to use them,but hereI am asked to treat the subject from their viewpoint.And that issomething new,in fact positively revolutionary. It is very unlikelythat this subject would be on the program for a conference on hea1thservices even a few years ago.The poor frigiitened creature sittingin a rumpled brown suit in the doctor's waiting room,as described sohumourously by Stephen Leacock in the skit "The Doctor a nd the Contraption",is at 1ong last having s omething to say,not on1y aboutthe doctor but ab out everybody that undertakes to provide him withhealth services of any kind.And it's about time this man was heardfrom, In conventiona 11anguage we ca11 him the cons umer. First of a11,let us be clear on who he is. The consumer is youand your neighbours,including me;the cons umer means everybody inthe popu1ation,men,women and children,old and young,rich and poor.And we are consumers from birth to death,and even before birth andafter death,at least for a little while,unti1 the undertaker finisheshis job and the bi11s are paid. But it!s strange that this idea of man as consumer is on1y be-ginning to dawn on society and the economic system. It is on¹y inmodern times,especia11y with the coming of the age of plenty in thehigh1y industrialized nations,that people are beginning to think ofthemselves as consumers,with power and voice as consumers. It remindsus of the cha racter in cne of Moliere's plays who is amazed and de-lighted to 1earn that he has been speaking prose a11 his life。Theconsumer was always powerfu1,but

FAQs

What does the speech say about consumers’ rights in health services?

Consumers reserve the right to question and exercise appropriate controls over any person or institution wishing to serve them. In this context, it involves controls over the quality of medical care and a partnership in the economics of medical services.

Who is defined as “the consumer” in the speech?

The consumer includes everyone in the population—men, women, children, old and young, rich and poor—beginning from birth and extending even before birth and after death for a little while.

Why does the speech say the consumer idea is only beginning to dawn on society?

It argues that only in modern times, especially with the age of plenty in highly industrialized nations, have people begun to think of themselves as consumers with power and voice.

Sep 21, 2026

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