Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am ar 15 Gorffennaf 1925.
If the point is seriously to be maintained that the distinction between disablement by accident and disablement by disease is not made in the National Health Insurance Act, I must ask the indulgence, of the Committee to read what is said by Section 10 which my right hon. Friend has just quoted. In defining sickness benefit it says:
Periodical payments whilst rendered incapable of work by some specific disease or by bodily or mental disablement.
That does not include accident. [HON. MEMBERS; "Disablement!"] Hon. Members will pardon me, but there are a few matters on which I know what I am talking about, and this happens to be one of them. I come now to paragraph c under that Section of the Act, and what do I find?
In the case of the disease or disablement continuing after the termination of the period during which sickness benefit may continue.
So that disablement benefit is simply a continuation after the period of sickness benefit. When you turn to Section 16 you find it provides that where you are getting disablement benefit through incapacity for work that shall not include disablement which is caused by accident within the meaning of the Workmen's Compensation Act. Therefore, the Leader of the Opposition was perfectly right when he said that the two are complementary. The Workmen's Compensation Act deals with disablement caused by accident and the National Health Insurance Act deals with disablement caused by sickness or with causes of incapacity other than accident.