“Counting on the ‘universality’ of the surgeon is less and less justified”: A.N. Bakulev’s letter to N.S. Khrushchev. September 1955
Keywords:
surgery, hospital, Central Committee, the Ministry of Health of the USSR, A.N. Bakulev, M.A. Suslov, E.A. FurtsevaAbstract
In September 1955, the president of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Academician A.N. Bakulev, wrote to the first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, N.S. Khrushchev, emphasizing the need to amend the resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers regarding staff standards for hospitals, maternity homes, and clinics, dated September 17, 1947. Bakulev proposed constructing specialized surgical hospitals in large cities with various specializations, including abdominal emergency surgery, traumatology, cranial trauma, urology, rectal diseases and injuries, and thoracic surgery. He argued that these measures would reduce medical errors and enhance the quality of healthcare.
The party leadership approved Bakulev’s proposal, which was part of broader health reforms intended to transform the healthcare system during "late Stalinism." Following the personal order of M.A. Suslov, a secretary of the Central Committee and member of the Presidium, a note was circulated via the CPSU's Administrative Department to the Ministry of Health of the USSR, the RSFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, and the Belorussian SSR, as well as to notable Soviet surgeons.
However, attempts to garner grassroots support and initiate phased healthcare reform faced opposition from the Ministry of Health's leadership and local party organs, particularly the Moscow city committee of the CPSU. Documents indicate that the ministry suggested opening specialized departments at major hospitals instead of building new specialized hospitals, a position supported by E.A. Furtseva, the first secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee. Her stance was crucial in the debate over healthcare reform. Ultimately, the CPSU Central Committee proposed that regional authorities decide whether to construct specialized hospitals or establish specialized departments within existing hospitals. Bakulev’s letter and supporting documents were later found in the CPSU apparatus archives at the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History.
Downloads
References
Barton K. Zdravookhranenie v period pozdnego stalinizma
i dukh poslevoennogo gosudarstva blagodenstviya, 1945– 1953 gg. (Health care during the late
Stalinist period and the spinit of the post-war welfare state). Zhurnal issledovaniy sotsial’noy
politiki. 2007; 5 (4): 541–558. [in Russian]
Navaro V. Social security and medicine in the USSR. Lexiton, 1977.
Davydova T.E. Reformirovanie sovetskogo zdravo- okhraneniya v poslevoennye gody: istoricheskiy
analiz
(Soviet health care reform in the postwar years: historical analysis). Vestnik TGU (Tongk Sate
University Bulletin). 2015; 8 (148): 164–170. [in Russian]
Popkov V.M. Akademik Aleksandr Nikolaevich Bakulev (k 120-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya) [Academic
Alexan- der Nikolaevich Bakulev (on the 120 th anniversary of his birth)]. Saratovskiy
nauchno-meditsinskiy zhurnal. (Saratov Medical Scientific Journal). 2010; 6 (4): 870–
[in Russian]
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
