Medical Act 1983

Part VIIU.K. Miscellaneous and General

[F149BThe Directive: designation of competent authority etc.U.K.

(1)The General Council is designated as the competent authority in the United Kingdom for the purposes of the Directive so far as relating to the medical profession.

(2)The designation under subsection (1)—

F2(a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b)does not extend to the awarding of primary United Kingdom qualifications.

[F3(3)Accordingly, the General Council shall, in the United Kingdom, carry out (in particular) the functions specified in Schedule 4A.]

(4)The bodies and combinations of bodies [F4included in the list maintained under section 4(1)] are designated as competent authorities in the United Kingdom for the purposes of awarding primary United Kingdom qualifications.

(5)Subject to subsection (6), the Secretary of State may give directions to the General Council in connection with their functions specified in Schedule 4A, and it shall be the duty of the General Council to comply with any such directions.

(6)Directions given under subsection (5) may be as to matters of administration only.

(7)In Schedule 4A, “non-UK medical qualification” means a medical qualification that is awarded to a person by a competent authority of a relevant European State other than the United Kingdom.]

50 Default powers of Privy Council.U.K.

(1)If at any time it appears to the Privy Council that—

(a)[F5the General Council] have failed to secure the maintenance of the prescribed standard of proficiency at examinations; or

(b)[F6the General Council] ought to exercise any power, perform any duty, or do any act or thing vested in, imposed on or authorised to be done by them, by any provision of this Act except section 7, [F710A or] [F832(1) to (3), (7) or (9)] F9... or paragraph 7 of Schedule 4 to this Act,

the Privy Council may notify their opinion to the General CouncilF10....

(2)If the General Council fail to comply with any directions of the Privy Council relating to a notification given under subsection (1) above, the Privy Council may themselves give effect to those directions, and for that purpose may exercise any power vested in the General Council or do any act or thing authorised to be done by that Council and may of their own motion do any act or thing which under this Act they are authorised to do in pursuance of a representation or suggestion from the General Council.

F11(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

51 Exercise of powers to make Orders in Council and other orders.U.K.

(1)Any power of the Privy Council to make orders under the provisions of this Act F12... shall be exercisable by statutory instrument.

(2)Except as provided in subsection (3) below, any statutory instrument containing an Order in Council or order of the Privy Council under any provision of this Act shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

[F13(3)Subsection (2) above does not apply to—

F14(a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b)an order of the Privy Council under sectionF15... 31(10) above.]

52 Exercise of powers of Privy Council.U.K.

(1)Any power vested in the Privy Council by this Act may be exercised by any two or more of the lords and others of the Council.

(2)Any act of the Privy Council under this Act shall be sufficiently signified by an instrument signed by the clerk of the Council, and an order or act signified by an instrument purporting to be signed by the clerk of the Council shall be deemed to have been duly made or done by the Privy Council, and an instrument so signed shall be received in evidence in all courts and proceedings without proof of the authority or signature of the clerk of the Council or other proof.

[F1652AAnnual reports, statistical reports and strategic plansU.K.

(1)The General Council shall publish, by such date in each year as the Privy Council shall specify—

(a)a report on the exercise of their functions which includes a description of the arrangements that the General Council have put in place to ensure that they adhere to good practice in relation to equality and diversity (and for these purposes “equality” and “diversity” have the meanings given in section 8(2) of the Equality Act 2006);

(b)a statistical report which indicates the efficiency and effectiveness of, and which includes a description of, the arrangements which the General Council have put in place to protect members of the public from persons who are provisionally registered or fully registered and whose fitness to practise is impaired, together with the General Council’s observations on the report; and

(c)a strategic plan for the General Council in respect of such number of years as the General Council shall determine.

(2)The General Council shall submit copies of the reports and the plan published under subsection (1) to the Privy Council and the Privy Council shall lay copies of the reports and the plan before each House of Parliament.]

[F1752B.Annual reports of the MPTSU.K.

(1)The MPTS must publish, by such date in each year as the Privy Council specifies—

(a)a report on the nature and volume of cases referred to the MPTS;

(b)a report on the exercise of the MPTS’s functions which includes a description of the arrangements that the MPTS have put in place to ensure that they adhere to good practice in relation to equality and diversity (and for these purposes “equality” and “diversity” each have the meaning given in section 8(2) of the Equality Act 2006);

(c)a report on the points of learning which the MPTS have identified and their proposals for addressing each of those points.

(2)The MPTS must submit copies of the reports published under subsection (1) to the Privy Council; and the Privy Council must lay copies of the reports before each House of Parliament.]

53 Proof of certain instruments.U.K.

(1)A copy of any instrument mentioned in subsection (2) below which—

(a)purports to be printed by the Queen's printers, or by any other printers in pursuance of authority given by the General Council, or

(b)is certified to be a true copy by the Registrar or by any other person appointed by the General Council, either in addition to or in place of the Registrar, to certify any such instrument,

shall be admissible in evidence.

(2)The instruments referred to in subsection (1) above are—

F18(a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b)regulations made by the General Council under section 31 or 32 above;

[F19(c)an order of a [F20Medical Practitioners Tribunal] under section 38 above; and]

(d)a direction of the General Council under section 39 above.

54 Saving for certain occupations.U.K.

Nothing in this Act shall prejudice or in any way affect the lawful occupation, trade, or business of chemists and druggists and dentists, or the rights, privileges or employment of duly licensed apothecaries in Northern Ireland, so far as the occupation, trade or business extends to selling, compounding or dispensing medicines.

55 Interpretation.U.K.

[F21(1)]In this Act—

• “acceptable overseas qualification” has the meaning given by [F22section 21B(2)] above;

• [F23“acceptable programme for provisionally registered doctors” has the meaning given by section 10A(1) above;]

• “additional qualification” has the meaning given by section 16(2) above;

• F24...

• F24...

• [F25“CCT” means a certificate of completion of training awarded under section 34L(1);]

• [F26“competent authority” means any authority or body of a relevant European State designated by that State for the purposes of the Directive as competent to—

  (a)

  receive or issue evidence of qualifications or other information or documents, or

  (b)

  receive applications and take the decisions referred to in the Directive,

  in connection with the practice of medicine;]

• [F26“the Directive” has the meaning given by section 5(4) above;]

• [F27“Directive 95/46/EC” means Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, as amended from time to time;]

• [F27“Directive 2002/58/EC” means Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (Directive on privacy and electronic communications), as amended from time to time;]

• F28. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• “disqualifying decision” has the meaning given by section 44(2) above;

• F29. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• F24...

• [F30“exempt person” has the meaning given in section 19(2) above;

• F31. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• [F32“fully registered person” means a person for the time being registered under section 3, 14A, [F3318A,] 19, 19A, 21B, 27A or 27B above as a fully registered medical practitioner, or under Schedule 2A as a visiting medical practitioner from a relevant European State, and—]

  (a)

  so far as mentioned in subsection (3) of section 15 (including that subsection as applied by section [F3415A(4), 21 or 21C] above, but not further, includes a person for the time being provisionally registered;

  (b)

  F35. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  and “fully registered” shall be construed accordingly;

• “the General Council” means the General Medical Council;

• [F25“General Practitioner Register” means the register kept by the General Council under section 34C;]

• [F36“the General Systems Regulations” means the European Union (Recognition of Professional Qualifications) Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2015/2059);]

• [F25“GP Registrar” means a medical practitioner who is being trained in general practice whether as part of training leading to the award of a CCT or otherwise;]

• [F27“IMI” means the Internal Market Information System, the online, secure messaging system developed by the European Commission;]

• [F30“impaired”, in relation to a person’s fitness to practise, has the meaning given in section 35C(2) above;

• F37. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• [F38“the MPTS” means the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service]

• “national”, in relation to a [F39relevant European State], has the same meaning as in the [F40EU] Treaties, but does not include a person who by virtue of Article 2 of Protocol No. 3 (Channel Islands and Isle of Man) to the Treaty of Accession is not to benefit from Community provisions relating to the free movement of persons and services;

• [F41“the necessary knowledge of English”, in relation to a person, means the knowledge of English which, in the interests of himself and his patients, is necessary for the practice of medicine in the United Kingdom;]

• [F25“NHS consultant” means a consultant other than a locum consultant (but including an honorary consultant) employed for the purposes of providing any service as part of any of the UK health services;]

• F24...

• F42. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• “the prescribed knowledge and skill” has the meaning given by section 5(4) above;

• F43. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• “the prescribed standard of proficiency” has the meaning given by section 5(4) above;

• “primary European qualification” shall be construed in accordance with section 17 above;

• “primary United Kingdom qualification” has the meaning given by section 4(3) above;

• [F30“professional performance” includes a medical practitioner’s professional competence; ]

• [F27“professional traineeship” means a period of professional practice, carried out under supervision, that—

  (a)

  constitutes a condition for access to the medical profession in the country in which it is carried out; and

  (b)

  takes place during or after completion of a course of education leading to an educational qualification pursued for the purpose of entry to that profession;]

• “provisionally registered” means provisionally registered under section 15 , [F4415A, 21 or 21C] above;

• “qualification”, except where the context otherwise requires, means any diploma, degree, fellowship, membership, licence, authority to practise, letters testimonial, certificate or other status or document granted in respect of any branch or branches of medicine by any university, corporation, college or other body or by any department of, or persons acting under the authority of, the government of any country or place;

• F45. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• [F25“recognised specialty” means a specialty which the Privy Council have designated as a recognised specialty by order under section 34D(3);]

• [F46“the register” means the register of medical practitioners;]

• “the Registrar” has the meaning given by section 2(1) above but subject to sub-paragraph (3) of paragraph 16 of Schedule 1 to this Act;

• [F47“relevant European State” means an EEA State or Switzerland;]

• [F30“revalidation” has the meaning given in section 29A above; ]

• F48. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• [F25“Specialist Register” means the register kept by the General Council under section 34D;]

• [F30“the statutory committees” has the meaning given in section 1(3A) above; ]

• [F27“third country” means a country other than a relevant European State;]

• [F25“the UK health services” means—

  (a)

  the health service as defined by section 275(1) of the National Health Service Act 2006 or section 206(1) of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006 ;

  (b)

  the health service as defined by section 108(1) of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 ; and

  (c)

  any of the health services under any enactment which extends to Northern Ireland and which corresponds to section 1(1) of the National Health Service Act 2006;]

[F49(1A)References in this Act to the over-arching objective are to the over-arching objective of the General Council under section 1(1A) (read with section 1(1B)).]

[F50(2)In relation to anything done before the adoption by the Council of Directive 93/16/EEC, references in this Act to [F51the Directive], or to any provision of [F51the Directive], shall be construed as references to, or to the corresponding provision of, the following Directives as for the time being amended, namely—

(a)Council Directive No.75/362/EEC concerning the mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications in medicine; and

(b)Council Directive No.75/363/EEC concerning the coordination of provisions in respect of activities of doctors.]

[F52(3)In relation to anything done—

(a)before the adoption by the Council and the European Parliament of the Directive, but

(b)after the adoption by the Council of Directive 93/16/EEC,

references in this Act to the Directive, or to any provision of the Directive, shall be construed as references to, or to any corresponding provision of, Directive 93/16/EEC as for the time being amended.

(4)In this section, “Directive 93/16/EEC” means Council Directive 93/16/EEC of 5th April 1993 to facilitate the free movement of doctors and the mutual recognition of their diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications (OJ No. L165, 7.7.93, p.1).]]]

56 Consequential amendments, repeals, transitional provisions and savings.U.K.

(1)Schedule 5 (consequential amendments) and Schedule 6 (transitional and saving provisions) to this Act shall have effect but without prejudice to the operation of sections 15 to 17 of the Interpretation Act 1978 (which relate to the effect of repeals); and in Schedule 6 “the 1956 Act” and “the M11978 Act” mean the M2Medical Act 1956 and the M3Medical Act 1978 respectively.

(2)Subject to subsection (1) above, the enactments specified in Part I of Schedule 7 to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Part of that Schedule.

(3)The instruments specified in Part II of Schedule 7 to this Act are hereby revoked to the extent specified in the third column of that Part, but the re-enactment of Articles 4, 7 and 8 of the M4Medical Qualifications (EEC Recognition) Order 1977 in provisions of this Act shall be without prejudice to the validity of those Articles, and any question as to the validity of them shall be determined as if the re-enacting provision of this Act were contained in a statutory instrument made under the powers under which that Order was made.

57 Short title, commencement and extent.U.K.

(1)This Act may be cited as the Medical Act 1983.

(2)This Act shall come into force at the end of the period of three months beginning with the day on which it is passed.

(3)This Act extends to Northern Ireland.