Medical Act 1978
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1978 c. 12 |
| Year | 1978 |
Medical Act 1978
CHAPTER 12
An Act to make provision for the constitution and functions of the General Medical Council and certain committees of the Council and to amend or provide for the amendment of the Medical Acts with respect to medical education, the registration of medical practitioners and their professional conduct and fitness to practise; and for purposes connected with those matters.
[5th May 1978]
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 General Medical Council and the branch councils
1 Constitution of the General Medical Council.
(1) The General Medical Council shall, on and after the succession day, be constituted as provided by Her Majesty by Order in Council subject to the provisions of this section and section 2 below.
(2) The General Council shall consist of—
(a ) elected members;
(b ) appointed members; and
(c ) nominated members.
(3) The numbers of elected members, appointed members and nominated members shall be such that the number of the elected members exceeds the number of the appointed and nominated members.
(4) Elections of elected members shall be conducted in accordance with an electoral scheme under this subsection providing for the election of members for the following four constituencies, that is to say—
(a ) England, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man;
(b ) Wales;
(c ) Scotland; and
(d ) Northern Ireland.
(5) An electoral scheme shall be made, with the approval of the Privy Council, by the General Council after consultation with such bodies as appear to the General Council to be representative of medical practitioners.
(6) The persons qualified to elect the elected members for any constituency shall be those who, when the election is held—
(a ) are resident in the constituency for which the election is held; and
(b ) are fully registered, provisionally registered or registered with limited registration;
except that a person registered with limited registration shall not be qualified to vote at an election unless, during the four years preceding the election, he has been so registered for a period, or for periods which amount in the aggregate to a period, of not less than three years.
(7) A person shall not be qualified to be elected as an elected member unless he is fully registered, provisionally registered or registered with limited registration and, if registered with limited registration has, during the four years preceding the election, been so registered for a period, or for periods which amount in the aggregate to a period, of not less than three years, nor shall be be qualified to hold office as an elected member unless he is fully registered, provisionally registered or registered with limited registration.
(8) Appointed members shall be chosen by the universities and other bodies designated for the time being as appointing bodies by an Order in Council under this section, being universities or bodies of the following description, that is to say, universities or bodies in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland which have power to grant a qualification which is or has been registrable under Part II of the Medical Act 1956 .
(9) A person shall not be qualified to be chosen as an appointed member unless he is fully registered, provisionally registered or registered with limited registration and, if registered with limited registration, has, during the four years preceding his appointment, been so registered for a period, or for periods which amount in the aggregate to a period, of not less than three years.
(10) Nominated members shall be nominated by Her Majesty on the advice of Her Privy Council.
(11) One member at least shall be nominated for England, for Wales, for Scotland and for Northern Ireland.
(12) Of the nominated members, a majority shall be persons who are neither fully registered nor holders of any qualification registrable under the Medical Act 1956 or this Act.
(13) Subject to section 2(7) below, a person shall not be qualified to be a member of the General Council if he has attained the age of seventy years.
(14) Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect in relation to the General Council, its proceedings, and its officers.
(15) This section has effect subject to the transitional provisions relating to Ireland contained in Schedule 2 to this Act and to the transitional provisions relating to practitioners with overseas qualifications contained in Schedule 5 to this Act.
(16) In this Act—
‘appointed member’ means a member of the General Council chosen by a university or other body designated as an appointing body under this section;
‘appointing body’ means a university or other body having, under this section, power to choose an appointed member or members of the General Council;
‘elected member’ means a member of the General Council elected under this section;
‘nominated member’ means a member of the General Council nominated by Her Majesty under this section; and
‘the succession day’ means the day appointed by an Order in Council under this section as the day on which the members of the General Council elected, appointed and nominated under this section are to take office in succession to the members of that Council elected, appointed and nominated under sections 2 to 4 of the Medical Act 1956;
and for the purposes of this section a person shall be taken to be resident at his address in the register.
2 Supplementary provisions as to the constitution of the General Medical Council.
(1) The universities and other bodies to be designated initially in an Order in Council as appointing bodies shall be—
(a ) those universities and other bodies which, at the passing of this Act, have power to choose an appointed member of the General Council under section 3 of the Medical Act 1956; and
(b ) such other universities or bodies concerned with medical education as the Privy Council think fit;
being universities or bodies of the description given in section 1(8) above.
(2) An Order in Council may give an appointing body the power to choose more than one appointed member or to choose an appointed member in combination with another appointing body or bodies.
(3) An Order in Council may contain such incidental, consequential, transitional or supplemental provisions as appear to Her Majesty to be necessary or expedient and an Order in Council which appoints or makes provision in relation to the succession day may include provision terminating on that day the offices of the members of the General Council holding office by virtue of sections 2 to 4 of the Medical Act 1956 .
(4) An Order in Council may, notwithstanding section 1(3) above, make provision permitting elections to fill casual vacancies among the elected members to be held together at such times as may be specified in the Order subject to this restriction, that the intervals between successive elections shall not exceed half the period for which elected members of the General Council currently hold office.
(5) The power to make an Order in Council includes power to vary or revoke such an Order by a subsequent Order; but no recommendation shall be made to Her Majesty to vary or revoke an Order so far as it relates to the appointing bodies except in pursuance of a representation made to the Privy Council by the General Council.
(6) An Order in Council shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
(7) The General Council may by rules provide that section 1(13) above shall have effect with the substitution of such age less than seventy years as is specified in the rules; but no rules under this subsection shall come into force until approved by order of the Privy Council.
(8) The power to make an order under subsection (7) above shall be exercisable by statutory instrument subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament and includes power to revoke such an order by a subsequent order.
(9) This section has effect subject to the transitional provisions relating to Ireland contained in Schedule 2 to this Act.
(10) In this section ‘an Order in Council’ means an Order in Council under section 1 above.
3 Branch councils.
(1) As from the appointed day there shall be a branch council for England, for Wales, for Scotland and for Northern Ireland.
(2) The branch council for each area shall consist of—
(a ) the members of the General Council elected for the constituency constituted by its area;
(b ) the member or members of the General Council chosen by the appointing body or bodies in its area; and
(c ) the member or members of the General Council nominated for its area.
(3) The General Council may delegate to a branch council such of the functions of the General Council other than those conferred by section 10 below as the General Council think fit.
(4) Each branch council shall appoint a registrar of the council but the person appointed to be registrar of the General Council—
(a ) shall also be registrar of the branch council for England, and
(b ) may also be registrar of all or any of the other branch councils.
(5) On the day appointed for the branch councils for England and Wales to come into existence the branch council for England and Wales shall cease to exist and on the day appointed for the branch council for Northern Ireland to come into existence the branch council for Ireland shall cease to exist.
(6) Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect in relation to the branch councils.
To continue reading
Request your trial