Read the text attentively. think of its name. give your reasons for it in 7 – 10 sentences. the earliest social welfare services in britain were provided by various religious orders, augmented in medieval times by the manor houses and merchant and craft guilds, which assumed as part of their duties and responsibilities the care of the sick and the desti¬tute. this practice fell into disuse with the decay of the feudal system and the dissolution of the monasteries. by the end of the sixteenth century it had become imperative to find some substitute for the old system. in 1601, therefore, the poor relief act gave local government authorities in england and wales the duty to provide from local taxation for the sick, the needy, and the homeless. (a similar act had been passed in scotland in 1579.) local authorities also began to take some steps to control water supplies and to try to check epidemics. in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries british medical services developed. medical science advanced and the number of qualified doctors greatly increased. hospitals were built with private endowments and subscriptions and were made increasingly available on a charitable basis to the general population, while free 'infirmaries' were provided under the poor law for the destitute, aged and infirm. from the middle of the nineteenth century working people of modest means began increasingly to insure against periods of illness by subscribing to provident and friendly societies and sick clubs. many public-spirited medical practitioners would at that time remit all or most of their fees to the poor.

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