The development of hospital systems in new nations: Central Europe between the Two World Wars

The study of hospitals has grown substantially in the last twenty years especially in Britain where there has been important work on issues of finance and control, particularly at a local level.² As this special issue shows, similar research is now underway in many countries, including France, Germany and Spain where the focus has been on the rise—or not—of a state-supported hospital system funded through compulsory state insurance.³ Initial research tended to characterise pre-welfare state health provision as limited, disorganised and poorly funded while rarely recognising the significant development taking place.⁴ Yet it is apparent that across much of Western Europe hospital provision was growing, with central and local state, philanthropy and the private sector all responsible for increased and improved services.⁵