Medical Act 1969
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1969 c. 40 |
| Year | 1969 |
Medical Act 1969
1969 CHAPTER 40
An Act to amend the Medical Act 1956, and for connected purposes.
[25th July 1969]
Be it 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:—
The registers and procedure for registration
1 Abolition of local registers and re-naming of general register.
(1) The local registers provided for by section 41(1) of the Act of 1956 are hereby abolished.
(2) In consequence of the abolition of those registers—
(a ) the general register kept for the purposes of that Act by the registrar of the General Council (hereafter in this Act referred to as ‘the Registrar’) shall as from the commencement of this section be known as the register of medical practitioners; and
(b ) references (however worded) to the general register so kept in any enactment or instrument passed or made before the commencement of this section shall as from the commencement of this section be construed as references to the register or, as regards persons temporarily registered under section 25 of the Act of 1956, as references to the register of temporarily registered medical practitioners mentioned in section 3(3) of this Act.
(3) In this Act ‘the register’, unless the context otherwise requires, means the register of medical practitioners.
2 Replacement of ss. 41 to 46 of Act of 1956.
2. Sections 3 to 9 of this Act shall have effect instead of sections 41 to 46 of the Act of 1956 with respect to registers and the procedure for registration under that Act.
3 The registers.
(1) The register shall continue to be kept by the Registrar, and shall contain, in addition to names and qualifications, the addresses and dates of registration of the persons registered therein and such other particulars (if any) of those persons as may be prescribed.
(2) The register shall consist of two lists—
(a ) one, to be called the principal list, of persons entitled to be registered under section 7, 17, 18, or 23 of the Act of 1956 but not entitled to be included in the overseas list mentioned in paragraph (b ) below; and
(b ) one, to be called the overseas list, of persons entitled to be so registered who by virtue of regulations made under section 4 of this Act are for the time being entitled to be included in that list by reason of residence overseas.
(3) Temporary registration under section 25 of the Act of 1956 shall be effected in a separate register, to be known as the register of temporarily registered medical practitioners, which shall be prepared and kept by the Registrar and shall contain the names, and such other particulars as may be prescribed, of the persons registered therein.
(4) It shall be the duty of the Registrar to keep the register correct in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 1956, this Act and regulations made by the General Council, to erase the names of persons who have died, and from time to time to make the necessary alterations in the addresses, qualifications and other registered particulars of registered persons.
(5) The Registrar may, by letter addressed to any registered person at his address on the register, inquire whether he has changed his address and, if no answer is received to the inquiry within six months from the posting of the letter, may erase from the register the entry relating to that person.
(6) On registering the death of a medical practitioner a registrar of births and deaths shall, without charge to the Registrar, send forthwith by post to the Registrar a copy certified under his hand of the entry in the register of deaths relating to the death.
(7) So far as applicable, subsection (4) above shall apply in relation to the register of temporarily registered medical practitioners and to persons and matters registered therein as it applies in relation to the register and to persons and matters registered in the register.
(8) In this section ‘prescribed’ means prescribed by regulations under section 4 of this Act.
4 Power to make regulations with respect to the registers.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the General Council may make regulations with respect to the form and keeping of the register and the making of entries, alterations and corrections therein.
(2) Regulations under this section may provide for the register to be kept either by making entries in bound books or by recording the matters in question in any other manner; and if the register is not kept by making entries in bound books, adequate precautions shall be taken for guarding against, and facilitating the discovery of, falsification.
(3) Regulations under this section shall provide for the marking of the register so as to distinguish those provisionally registered under section 17 or 23 of the Act of 1956, those registered as Commonwealth practitioners under section 18 or 23 of that Act and those registered as foreign practitioners under the said section 18 or 23.
(4) Regulations under this section shall prescribe—
(a ) the circumstances in which persons are to be treated for the purposes of this Act and of any regulations made by the General Council as residing overseas;
(b ) the conditions (which may include the making of an application in the prescribed manner) subject to which persons are to be entitled to be included in the overseas list by reason of residence overseas; and
(c ) the circumstances in which persons are to cease to be entitled to be included in that list;
but regulations made in pursuance of this subsection shall not provide for a person to be treated for the said purposes as residing overseas unless he resides outside the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
(5) Regulations under this section may authorise the Registrar to erase from the overseas list the name of any person who has ceased to be entitled to be included therein, but any regulations made in pursuance of this subsection shall include provision for entitling a person whose name is erased from that list by virtue of this subsection otherwise than on his own application to appeal within a prescribed period to such committee of the General Council as may be prescribed; and on any such appeal the committee in question, after making such investigation (if any) of the appellant's conduct as they think fit, may if they think fit direct his name to be restored to that list.
(6) Regulations under this section may make provision with respect to the restoration to the register or a particular list therein of the name of any person whose name has been erased therefrom by virtue of section 3(5) of this Act or of any regulations made in pursuance of subsection (5) above or section 5(2) of this Act, including provision—
(a ) for authorising the Registrar, notwithstanding anything in the Act of 1956 or this Act, to refuse to restore as aforesaid the name of any such person unless he furnishes to the Registrar such evidence of his identity and good character as may be prescribed; and
(b ) for securing that, in such circumstances as may be prescribed, such a person's name is not so restored unless the General Council or a committee thereof so direct after making such investigation of his conduct as they think fit:
Provided that nothing in any regulation made in pursuance of paragraph (a ) or (b ) above shall apply to the restoration of a person's name to the overseas list in pursuance of a direction under subsection (5) above.
(7) Subsections (1) and (2) above shall apply in relation to the register of temporarily registered medical practitioners as they apply in relation to the register; but any regulations under this section made by virtue of those subsections may make different provision in relation to the two registers.
(8) Regulations made in pursuance of subsection (4), (5) or (6) above shall not have effect until approved by order of the Privy Council, and the power to make any such order shall be exercisable by statutory instrument and shall include power to vary or revoke any such order.
(9) In this section ‘prescribed’ means prescribed by regulations under this section.
5 Power to make regulations with respect to registration fees.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the General Council may make regulations with respect to the charging of fees in connection with the making of entries in the register, and in particular—
(a ) prescribing a fee to be charged on the entry of a name or qualification in the register or on the restoration of any entry to the register;
(b ) prescribing a fee to be charged in respect of the retention in the register of the name of a person in any year subsequent to the year beginning with the date on which he was first registered;
(c ) authorising the Registrar, notwithstanding anything in the Act of 1956 or this Act, to refuse to make any entry in, or restore any entry to, the register or a particular list therein until a fee prescribed by regulations under this section has been paid.
(2) Regulations under this section may authorise the Registrar to erase from the register the name of—
(a ) any person who, after such notices and warnings as may be prescribed by the regulations, fails to pay a fee prescribed in pursuance of subsection (1)(b ) above; or
(b ) any person who in the manner prescribed by the regulations applies for his name to be erased from the register on the ground that he does not wish to pay or continue to pay fees prescribed in pursuance...
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