Nurses Act 1957
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1957 c. 15 |
| Year | 1957 |
Nurses Act , 1957
(5 & 6 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 15
An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to nurses and assistant nurses for the sick.
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 Nursing Council for England and Wales
1 The General Nursing Council for England and Wales.
(1) The body established by section one of the Nurses Registration Act, 1919, by the name of the General Nursing Council for England and Wales shall continue in existence by that name and shall have such powers and duties as are conferred and imposed on them by the following provisions of this Act.
(2) The constitution of the Council shall be that provided by the provisions in that behalf of the First Schedule to this Act and the supplementary provisions contained in that Schedule shall have effect with respect to the Council.
The Register of Nurses, the Roll of Assistant Nurses and the List of Persons neither registered nor enrolled
2 The register of nurses and the roll of assistant nurses.
(1) It shall be the duty of the Council—
(a ) to maintain, in accordance with rules in that behalf made by them, the register of nurses established in pursuance of the Nurses Registration Act, 1919, which shall consist of—
(i) a general part containing the names of all nurses who satisfy the conditions of admission thereto;
(ii) a part containing the names of nurses trained in the nursing and care of persons suffering from mental diseases;
(iii) a part containing the names of nurses trained in the nursing of sick children; and
(iv) such other parts as may be prescribed;
(b ) to maintain, in accordance with rules in that behalf made by them, the roll of assistant nurses established in pursuance of Part I of the Nurses Act, 1943.
(2) Where a person satisfies the conditions of admission to a part of the register other than the general part, his name may be included in that other part notwithstanding that it is also included in the general part.
(3) A certificate under the seal of the Council duly authenticated stating that a person is, or was at any date, or is not, or was not at any date, duly registered or enrolled shall be evidence in all courts of law of the fact stated in the certificate.
3 General provisions as to admission to the register and roll.
(1) The Council shall make rules for regulating the conditions of admission to the register and to the roll respectively and the conduct of any examinations which may be prescribed as a condition of admission thereto and any matters ancillary to or connected with any such examinations, and any such rules shall contain provisions—
(a ) requiring, as a condition of the admission of any person to the register or the roll, that that person shall have undergone the prescribed training, and shall possess the prescribed experience, in nursing; and
(b ) requiring that the prescribed training shall be carried out either in an institution approved by the Council in that behalf or in the service of the Admiralty, the Army Council or the Air Council.
(2) The Council—
(a ) shall make rules under this section enabling persons registered as nurses in Scotland or Northern Ireland or enrolled as assistant nurses there to obtain admission to the register or, as the case may be, the roll; and
(b ) shall, with a view to securing a uniform standard of qualification in all parts of the United Kingdom, consult with the General Nursing Council for Scotland and the Joint Nursing and Midwives Council for Northern Ireland before making rules under this section with respect to the conditions of admission to the register or the roll.
(3) There shall be paid to the Council in respect of every application to be examined or to be registered or enrolled under this Act such fees respectively as the Council may, with the approval of the Minister, from time to time determine.
4 Registration of nurses trained abroad.
(1) A person who proves to the satisfaction of the Council that, in a country or territory outside the United Kingdom, he successfully completed his training either generally as a nurse or as a nurse of some special class in accordance with a scheme of training recognised by the Council as being satisfactory for the purposes of this subsection, that he underwent his training in an institution so recognised and that he is of good character shall, on making an application in the prescribed manner and on payment of such fee, if any, as may be prescribed, be entitled to be registered in the part of the register appearing to the Council to be appropriate to his case.
(2) If, in the case of a person who proves to the satisfaction of the Council that he successfully completed his training either generally as a nurse or as a nurse of some special class in a country or territory outside the United Kingdom but who is unable to prove that his training was in accordance with a scheme of training recognised by the Council as being satisfactory for the purposes of the foregoing subsection and that he underwent his training in an institution so recognised, the Council are of opinion that he could properly be registered after undergoing to their satisfaction such further training in the United Kingdom as may be specified by them and passing such examinations, if any, as may be so specified, they may, if they are satisfied that he is of good character, register him if, after undergoing the specified training in the United Kingdom to their satisfaction and passing any specified examinations, he makes, in the prescribed manner, an application in that behalf and pays such fee, if any, as may be prescribed.
5 The list of persons neither registered nor enrolled.
(1) It shall be the duty of the Council to maintain, as an appendix to the register, the list established in pursuance of section eighteen of the Nurses Act, 1943, of persons neither registered nor enrolled, who within two years from the passing of that Act applied for admission to the list, being persons who held certificates issued by institutions which appeared to the Council to be satisfactory for the purposes of subsection (2) of that section stating that they completed before the beginning of July, nineteen hundred and twenty-five, a course of training in nursing in the institution and who satisfied the Council that they were of good character and had adequate knowledge and experience of nursing.
(2) The list shall consist of the like parts as those of which the register consists.
(3) A person who is included in any part of the list established in pursuance of section eighteen of the Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland entitled the Nurses Act (Northern Ireland), 1946, shall be entitled to be admitted to the corresponding part of the list referred to in subsection (1) of this section on production of similar evidence and on payment of the same fees as are required in the case of a nurse registered in Northern Ireland who seeks admission to the register and, on admission, shall be granted a certificate of admission by the Council.
(4) A certificate under the seal of the Council duly authenticated stating that a person is, or was at any date, or is not, or was not at any date, included in the list shall be evidence in all courts of law of the fact stated in the certificate.
6 Registration of persons who are, or might have been, included in the list.
(1) The Council shall make rules providing for the admission to the register, on payment of such fees (if any) as may be prescribed, of—
(a ) persons whose names are included in the list; and
b ) persons, other than as aforesaid, who hold certificates issued by institutions which appear to the Council to be satisfactory for the purposes of this provision stating that they completed before the beginning of July, nineteen hundred and twenty-five, a course of training in nursing in the institution and who satisfy the council that they are of good character and have adequate knowledge and experience of nursing.
(2) A person whose name is included in the list shall, on being admitted to the register, cease to be included in the list, and it shall be the duty of the Council to make the requisite alterations therein.
7 Removal from, and restoration to, the register, roll and list.
(1) The Council shall make rules prescribing—
(a ) the causes for which, the conditions under which and the manner in which persons may be removed from the register and the roll respectively; and
(b ) the procedure for, and the fee to be payable on, the restoration to the register and the roll respectively of persons who have been removed therefrom.
(2) The circumstances in which a name may be removed from the list and the procedure for the removal shall (subject to the making of any necessary modifications in the form of any document) be the same respectively as the circumstances in which a name may be removed from the register and the procedure for such a removal, and the procedure, and the payment and amount of any fee, for...
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