Post Office: Staff: Medical Provision and sick leave

This series relates to the provision of medical care for staff through the appointment of medical officers, the monitoring of sick leave and the establishment of the Post Office Ambulance Corps.

Please see The Postal Museum's online catalogue for descriptions of individual records within this series.

Topics

Communications

Medical officers were first appointed to the Post Office in 1854 after a committee of enquiry decided that all candidates should be examined prior to appointment in order to assess their fitness for public service. The Medical Officer was responsible for overseeing health care in The Post Office and from 1893 he compiled an annual report with sick leave statistics to show the level of staff absence for the different districts and departments. Many of the medical officers to have served over the years also wrote medical articles and, following the work of Dr. John Sinclair, were involved with The Post Office Ambulance Corps.

The Post Office Ambulance Corps. was established in 1902 following a suggestion by a group of employees. Many of the members of this group held first aid certificates but were concerned about the length of time taken for medical assistance to arrive at the scene of an accident and wished to provide a first aid service during this period. However, they were not allowed to provide this service until they had achieved further qualifications from the St John Ambulance Association and there was no provision for such courses to be run at The Post Office. The group therefore sought and received the support of the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. John Sinclair, and a course of lectures was set up.

From it's creation the Corps expanded throughout the organisation and maintained close links with the St John Ambulance Association. Annual competitions evolved as an opportunity for teams to demonstrate their skills in an emergency, and these became increasingly popular. In 1911 courses were arranged for women and two women's branches were formed. In 1928 the name was changed to the Post Office Ambulance Centre and re-organised to enable non- members of the St John Ambulance Brigade to join. The Centre was valuable in both World Wars and provided first aid posts and wards staffed by volunteers from the Corps in some of the most bombed areas of London.