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About
The Society for Relief of Widows and Orphans of Medical Men.
Present Structure of the Society
The Society is headed by the President.
Vice Presidents - There are currently five of these.
Treasurer, who has overall responsibility for the Society’s
financial well being
Directors - making the total Court up to usually about 20 in
number.
Secretary – responsible for the day to day affairs of the
Society, letters, membership, recruitment, subscriptions,
bookkeeping, writing and sending cheques, presenting cases, filing,
agendas , minutes, etc.
President Dr Roy N Palmer LLB MB
BS FFFLM
Vice Presidents
Dr J P Barker MB MRCS DMJ ACIL
Mr J P S England MB BS FRCS
Mr Simon D W Payne MB BS FRCS
Mr Frank A W Schweitzer MS FRCS
Dr Priya Singh MB ChB MRCGP
Treasurer Mr Geoff E Rose MS
MRCP FRCS FRCOphth
Directors
Dr Stephanie Bown MBBS MRCP DRCOG LLB
Dr G W Hickish VRD MB ChB DCH
Dr C D Hutter MB BS FFARCS
Dr Stewart M Kilpatrick MB BCh FFARCS
Dr Bryan H Latimer MB BS DRCOG
Dr Emily MacDonald MB BS
Dr Cyril Nemeth MRCGP
Dr Celia Palmer MB BS MRCS LRCP AFOM DA
Mr A B Richards MChir FRCS
Mr A K Thomas MB FRCS
Secretary Mrs Lotte Farrar
The Court meets four times a year – February, May, August and
November, to conduct its business. Any new applications for
membership are considered at these meetings and application for
membership needs to be proposed and seconded and must state that he
or she is in good health. Any doctor who has a GMC recognised
qualification and has lived in the UK for ten years or more is
eligible for membership. Membership currently stands at about 200.
Any new requests for assistance are considered and decisions made on
Xmas, Easter or Michaelmas Gifts depending on the time of year.
There is a strict order for eligibility for assistance:-
First - dependants of deceased members
Second - members themselves
Third – their dependants
and lastly medical practitioners, who haven’t been
members of the Society and their dependants. The overriding
consideration is whether any applicant is necessitous.
As any available funds must be used strictly in that order there
is a distinct advantage to being a member, in that a member and
his or her dependants will always have first call on the funds. It
is for this reason that it is difficult for us to commit to any
long-term help for those outside the Society. However for members’
dependants the amount of help given can be substantial. At present
there is a healthy excess of income over expenditure but this
happy position has not always been so and could change very quickly
if even a few families were to need considerable help from the
Society. However while this position prevails, we are also able to
help those who have not been members and also their families.
Currently the Society has a particular interest in helping medical
students who are themselves the sons or daughters of doctors.
Naturally it is hoped that they may themselves become members in due
course and ensure the future of the Society.
Every application for assistance is considered on its own merits
However nowadays many of the requests received have been
referred by other organisations – RMF (www.royalmedicalfoundation.org), BMA Charities
(www.bma.org.uk), Sick Doctors
Trust (www.sick-doctors-trust.co.uk) and of course the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund
(www.rmbf.org). Applications
may fall outside their criteria for benefit yet the Society, because
of its flexibility, may be able to help.
Wherever possible either the Secretary or a Member of the Court of
Directors will visit or meet the applicants.
An application form must be completed in all cases, with full
details of income, expenditure, assets, debts and liabilities.
This then needs to be accompanied by a letter explaining the current
difficulties and how they arose.
Grants for students are usually at a standard level and paid
per term and reviewed annually. However Clinical Medical Students are given
slightly more because of the shorter holidays and the lack of
opportunity for supplementing their income through holiday jobs.
The Society works closely with other medical charities and often
receives referral from them.
EXAMPLES OF ASSISTANCE GIVEN IN RECENT YEARS
The Society has helped to pay for retraining for doctors removed
from Medical Register – one in hypnotherapy and one in addiction
counselling.
Help has been given for alterations to homes for disablements caused
by both injury and disease.
Help has been given towards the purchase of computers – one for a
doctor with MS who wanted to work from home and one for a student,
who was not in receipt of a regular grant from the Society.
Payments have also been made towards new heating boilers or central
heating systems, car purchase or repairs where economic |
