Port Health Not Unlimited
Abstract
Port Health Not Unlimited SAGE Publications, Inc.1986DOI: 10.1177/146642408610600409 C.R. Grainger Specialist in Community Medicine, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Health Authority f one lives near the sea one reads in the newspaper of dramatic rescues at sea purporting to be carried out by or in the company of the local port medical officer. In a different context a French general watching the charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War exclaimed 'C'est magnifique mais n'est pas la guerre!' With the publication of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 it is worth examining some aspects of the act as certain actions may be carried out in a good faith but be ultra vires or an individual may be acting outside the remit of the employing authority thus placing himself in some jeopardy if an accident occurs to himself or a patient as a result of that action. In the past port medical officers were either full time employees of the local authority or had port health as a major part of their job. Following reorganisation of Local Government and the National Health Service there are now many ports where the duties of the port medical officer