Medical Act 1858
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1858 c. 90 |
(21 & 22 Vict.) C A P. XC.
[2d August 1858]
'WHEREAS it is expedient that Persons requiring Medical Aid should be enabled to distinguish qualified from unqualified Practitioners:' Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows:
I Short Title.
I. This Act may for all Purposes be cited as ‘The Medical Act.’
II Commencement of Act.
II. This Act shall commence and take effect from the First Day ofOctober One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
III Medical Council.
III. A Council which shall be styled ‘The General Council of Education and Registration of the United Kingdom,’ herein-after referred to as the General Council, shall be established, and Branch Councils forEngland , Scotland , and Ireland respectively formed thereout as herein-after mentioned.
IV Members of Council.
IV. The General Council shall consist of One Person chosen from Time to Time by each of the following Bodies; (that is to say,)
The Royal College of Physicians:
The Royal College of Surgeons ofEngland :
The Apothecaries Society ofLondon :
The University ofOxford :
The University ofCambridge :
The University ofDurham :
The University ofLondon :
The College of Physicians ofEdinburgh :
The College of Surgeons ofEdinburgh :
The Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons ofGlasgow :
One Person chosen from Time to Time by the University ofEdinburgh and the Two Universities of Aberdeen collectively:
One Person chosen from Time to Time by the University ofGlasgow and the University of Saint Andrew's collectively:
One Person chosen from Time to Time by each of the following Bodies:
The King and Queen's College of Physicians inIreland :
The Royal College of Surgeons inIreland :
The Apothecaries Hall ofIreland :
The University ofDublin :
The Queen's University inIreland :
And Six Persons to be nominated by Her Majesty with the Advice of Her Privy Council, Four of whom shall be appointed forEngland , One for Scotland , and One for Ireland ; and of a President, to be elected by the General Council.
V Provision in case certain Universities fail to appoint a Person to represent them.
V. If the said Universities ofEdinburgh and Aberdeen , of Glasgow and Saint Andrew's respectively, shall not be able to agree upon some One Person to represent them in the Council, it shall be lawful for each One of the said Universities to select One Person; and thereupon it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, with the Advice of Her Privy Council, to appoint One of the Persons so selected to be a Member of the said Council for the said Universities.
VI Branches of the Council for England, Scotland, and Ireland.
VI. The Members chosen by the Medical Corporations and Universities ofEngland , Scotland , and Ireland respectively, and the Members nominated by Her Majesty, with the Advice of Her Privy Council, for such Parts respectively of the United Kingdom, shall be the Branch Councils for such Parts respectively of the United Kingdom, to which Branch Councils shall be delegated such of the Powers and Duties vested in the Council as the Council may see fit other than the Power to make Representations to Her Majesty in Council as herein-after mentioned: The President shall be a Member of all the Branch Councils.
VII Qualification.
VII. Members of the General Council representing the Medical Corporations must be qualified to be registered under this Act.
VIII Duration of Office and supply of Vacancies in General Council.
VIII. The Members of the General Council shall be chosen and nominated for a Term not exceeding Five Years, and shall be capable of Re-appointment, and any Member may at any Time resign his Appointment by Letter addressed to the President of the said Council, and upon the Death or Resignation of any Member of the said Council, some other Person shall be constituted a Member of the said Council in his Place in manner herein-before provided; but it shall be lawful for the Council during such Vacancy to exercise the Powers herein-after mentioned.
IX Time and Place of Meeting of the General Council.
IX. The General Council shall hold their First Meeting within Three Months from the Commencement of this Act, in such Place and at such Time as One of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State shall appoint, and shall make such Rules and Regulations as to the Times and Places of the Meetings of the General Council, and the Mode of summoning the same, as to them shall seem expedient, which Rules and Regulations shall remain in force until altered at any subsequent Meeting; and in the Absence of any Rule or Regulation as to the summoning a Meeting of the General Council, it shall be lawful for the President to summon a Meeting at such Time and Place as to him shall seem expedient by Letter addressed to each Member; and at every Meeting, in the Absence of the President, some other Member to be chosen from the Members present shall act as President; and all Acts of the General Council shall be decided by the Votes of the Majority of the Members present at any Meeting, the whole Number present not being less than Eight, and at all such Meetings the President for the Time being shall, in addition to his Vote as a Member of the Council, have a Casting Vote, in case of an Equality of Votes; and the General Council shall have Power to appoint an Executive Committee out of their own Body, of which the Quorum shall not be less than Three, and to delegate to such Committee such of the Powers and Duties vested in the Council as the Council may see fit, other than the Power of making Representations to Her Majesty in Council as herein-after mentioned.
X Appointment of Registrars and other Officers.
X. The General Council shall appoint a Registrar, who shall act as Secretary of the General Council, and who may also act as Treasurer, unless the Council shall appoint another Person or other Persons as Treasurer or Treasurers; and the Person or Persons so appointed shall likewise act as Registrar forEngland , and as Secretary and Treasurer or Treasurers, as the Case may be, for the Branch Council for England ; the General Council and Branch Council for England shall also appoint so many Clerks and Servants as shall be necessary for the Purposes of this Act; and every Person so appointed by any Council shall be removable at the Pleasure of that Council, and shall be paid such Salary as the Council by which he was appointed shall think fit.
XI Appointment of Registrars and other Officers by Branch Councils.
XI. The Branch Councils forScotland and Ireland shall each respectively in like Manner appoint a Registrar and other Officers and Clerks, who shall be paid such Salaries as such Branch Councils respectively shall think fit, and be removable at the Pleasure of the Council by which they were appointed; and the Person appointed Registrar shall also act as Secretary to the Branch Council, and may also act as Treasurer, unless the Council shall appoint some other Person or Persons as Treasurer or Treasurers.
XII Fees for Attendance at Councils.
XII. There shall be paid to the Members of the Councils such Fees for Attendance and such reasonable Travelling Expenses as shall from Time to Time be allowed by the General Council and approved by the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury.
XIII Expenses of the Councils.
XIII. All Monies payable to the respective Councils shall be paid to the Treasurers of such Councils respectively, and shall be applied to defray the Expenses of carrying this Act into execution in manner following; that is to say, separate Accounts shall be kept of the Expenses of the General Council, and of those of the Branch Councils; and the Expenses of the General Council, including those of keeping, printing, and publishing the Register for the United Kingdom, shall be defrayed, under the Direction of the General Council, by means of an equal Per-centage Rate upon all Monies received by the several Branch Councils; Returns shall be made by the Treasurers of the respective Branch Councils, at such Times as the General Council shall direct, of all Monies received by them; and the necessary Per-centage having been computed by the General Council, the respective Contributions shall be paid by the Treasurers of such Branch Councils to the Treasurer or Treasurers of the General Council; and the Expenses of the Branch Councils shall be defrayed, under the Direction of those Councils respectively, out of the Residue of the Monies so received as aforesaid.
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