Medical Act 1983 (Amendment) Order 2000
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2000/1803 |
2000No. 1803
MEDICAL PROFESSION
The Medical Act 1983 (Amendment) Order 2000
12thJuly2000
3rdAugust2000
At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 12th day of July 2000
Present,
The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council
Whereas a draft of this Order in Council has been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament in accordance with section 62(9) of the Health Act 1999( 1);
Now, therefore, Her Majesty, in exercise of the powers conferred upon Her by section 126(4) of the National Health Service Act 1977( 2) and section 60 of the Health Act 1999 and of all other powers enabling Her in that behalf, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is thereby ordered, as follows:
Citation, commencement and interpretation
1. - (1) This Order may be cited as the Medical Act 1983 (Amendment) Order 2000 and shall come into force on 3rd August 2000.
(2) In this Order, "the Act" means the Medical Act 1983( 3).
Amendment of the Act
2. The Act shall be amended in accordance with articles 3 to 16 of this Order.
Amendment of section 1
3. In section 1(3)( 4) (committees of the General Medical Council) -
(a) for "six" there shall be substituted "seven";(b) after "the Education Committee," there shall be inserted "the Interim Orders Committee,".Insertion of sections 35A and 35B
4. After section 35 there shall be inserted -
"General Council's power to require disclosure of information
35A. - (1) For the purpose of assisting the General Council or any of their committees in carrying out functions in respect of professional conduct, professional performance or fitness to practise, a person authorised by the Council may require -
(a) a practitioner (except the practitioner in respect of whose professional conduct, professional performance or fitness to practise the information or document is sought); or(b) any other person,who in his opinion is able to supply information or produce any document which appears relevant to the discharge of any such function, to supply such information or produce such a document.
(2) As soon as is reasonably practicable after the relevant date, the General Council shall require, from a practitioner in respect of whom a decision mentioned in subsection (3) has been made, details of any person -
(a) by whom the practitioner is employed to provide services in, or in relation to, any area of medicine; or(b) with whom he has an arrangement to do so.(3) For the purposes of this section and section 35B the relevant date is -
(a) the date of a decision to refer a case in respect of a practitioner to the Preliminary Proceedings Committee in accordance with rules made under paragraph 5(2) of Schedule 4 to this Act;(b) where rules have been made under paragraph 1(1) or 5A(1) of Schedule 4 to this Act which provide for any of the following decisions - (i) to invite a practitioner to agree to an assessment of his professional performance;(ii) to invite a practitioner to agree to an assessment to determine whether his fitness to practise is seriously impaired by reason of his physical or mental condition;(iii) to notify a practitioner that medical reports received by the General Council appear to provide evidence that his fitness to practise may be seriously impaired by reason of his physical or mental condition,the date of the decision in question.
(4) Nothing in this section shall require or permit any disclosure of information which is prohibited by or under any other enactment.
(5) But where information is held in a form in which the prohibition operates because the information is capable of identifying an individual, the person referred to in subsection (1) may, in exercising his functions under that subsection, require that the information be put into a form which is not capable of identifying that individual.
(6) Subsection (1) shall not apply in relation to the supplying of information or the production of any document which a person could not be compelled to supply or produce in civil proceedings before the court (within the meaning of section 38).
(7) For the purposes of subsection (4), "enactment" includes an enactment comprised in, or in an instrument made under, an Act of the Scottish Parliament.
(8) For the purposes of this section and section 35B, a "practitioner" means a fully registered person, a provisionally registered person or a person registered with limited registration.
Notification and disclosure by the General Council
35B. - (1) As soon as is reasonably practicable after the relevant date, the General Council shall notify the following of the making of a decision mentioned in section 35A(3) in respect of a practitioner -
(a) the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers and the National Assembly for Wales; and(b) any person in the United Kingdom of whom the General Council are aware - (i) by whom the practitioner concerned is employed to provide services in, or in relation to, any area of medicine, or(ii) with whom he has an arrangement to do so.(2) The General Council may disclose to any person any information relating to a practitioner's professional conduct, professional performance or fitness to practise which they consider it to be in the public interest to disclose.".
Amendment of section 36
5. In section 36( 5) (professional misconduct and criminal offences) -
(a) in subsection (1)(a), after "criminal offence,", there shall be inserted "or to have been convicted elsewhere of an offence which, if committed in England and Wales, would constitute a criminal offence,";(b) in subsection (2), for "under section 42 below by the Preliminary Proceedings Committee" there shall be substituted "under section 41A by the Interim Orders Committee".Amendment of section 36A
6. In section 36A(2)( 6) (professional performance), for ", is judged by the Committee" there shall be substituted "or under section 41A by the Interim Orders Committee or the Committee on Professional Performance, is judged by the Committee on Professional Performance".
Amendment of section 37
7. In section 37(2)( 7) (unfitness to practise through illness etc), for "under section 42 below by the Preliminary Proceedings Committee" there shall be substituted "under section 41A by the Interim Orders Committee".
Amendment of section 40
8. In section 40( 8) (appeals) -
(a) in subsection (1), after paragraph (c) there shall be added -" ; or
(d) a decision of the Professional Conduct Committee under section 41(6) giving a direction that the right to make further applications under that section shall be suspended indefinitely; or(e) a decision of the General Council under section 45(6) giving a direction that the right to make further applications under that section shall be suspended indefinitely.";(b) in subsection (3), for "or 39(2)" there shall be substituted, ", 39(2), 41(7) or 45(7)";(c) in subsection (4), the word "or" after paragraph (b) shall be omitted and after paragraph (c) there shall be added the following paragraphs -" (d) of the Professional Conduct Committee under section 41(6); or
(e) of the General Council under section 45(6),".Amendment of section 41
9. In section 41 (restoration of names to the register) -
(a) in subsection (1), for "subsection (2)" there shall be substituted "subsections (2) and (5)";(b) in subsection (2)(a), for "ten months" there shall be substitued "five years";(c) in subsection (2)(b), for "ten months" there shall be substituted "twelve months";(d) after subsection (4) there shall be added -" (5) Before determining whether to give a direction under subsection (1), the Professional Conduct Committee shall require an applicant for restoration to provide such evidence as they direct as to one or more of his good character, professional competence and health; and they shall not give such a direction if that evidence does not satisfy them.
(6) Where, during the same period of erasure, a second or subsequent application for the restoration of a name to the register, made by or on behalf of the person whose name has been erased, is unsuccessful, the Professional Conduct Committee may direct that his right to make any further such applications shall be suspended indefinitely.
(7) Where the Professional Conduct Committee give a direction under...
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