Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act 1997

Registration

7The professional register

(1)The Central Council shall continue to maintain a register of qualified nurses, midwives and health visitors.

(2)The register shall be divided into such parts as the Secretary of State may by order determine, the parts being indicative of different qualifications and different kinds and standards of training, and in this Act references to parts of the register are to the parts so determined.

(3)The Council may by rules make provision—

(a)as to the documentary and other evidence to be produced, and the fees to be paid, by those applying for registration or for additional qualifications to be recorded, or for any entry in the register to be altered or restored;

(b)as to the keeping of the register and the means of obtaining access to, and copies of extracts from, the register;

(c)for a person’s registration to remain effective without limitation of time (subject to removal from the register for misconduct or otherwise) or to lapse after a specified period or in specified cases, or to be subject to renewal as and when provided by the rules.

(4)The Secretary of State may by order provide—

(a)for persons to be registered in one or more parts of the register by virtue of having been included in one or more of the registers, rolls or lists maintained under enactments repealed by the [1979 c. 36.] Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act 1979, or having been certified under any of those enactments;

(b)for a specified part of the register to be closed, as from a date specified by the order, so that on or after that date no further persons can become registered in that part;

(c)for a specified part of the register to be sub-divided into two or more parts, or for two or more parts to be combined into one.

(5)The Secretary of State shall consult the Central Council before making, varying or revoking any order under this section.

(6)A certificate issued and duly authenticated by the Council stating that a person is, or was at any date, or is not, or was not at any date, registered shall be evidence in all courts of law of the fact stated in the certificate.

(7)In any enactment or instrument (past or future, and including this Act) “registered”, in relation to nurses, midwives and health visitors, means registered in the register maintained under this section by virtue of qualifications in nursing, midwifery or health visiting, as the case may be.

(8)Orders under subsection (2) may, by reference to the part or parts in which a person is registered, prescribe the more advanced qualifications which he must have in order to be treated as a qualified nurse for the purposes of any particular enactment or instrument.

8Admission to register

(1)A person seeking admission to a part of the register must make application to the Central Council in accordance with the Council’s rules.

(2)Subject to subsection (6) below, the applicant shall be registered in that part (on payment of such fee as may be required by the rules) if he satisfies the Council that he is of good character and has the appropriate professional qualifications.

(3)He is to be regarded as having those qualifications if—

(a)he has in the United Kingdom undergone the training, and passed the examinations, required by the Council’s rules for admission to that part of the register; or

(b)being a national of any EEA State, he has professional qualifications, obtained in an EEA State other than the United Kingdom, which the Secretary of State has by order designated as having Community equivalence for the purposes of registration in that part; or

(c)he has, elsewhere than in the United Kingdom, undergone training in nursing, midwifery or health visiting (as the case may be) and either—

(i)that training is recognised by the Central Council as being to a standard sufficient for registration in that part; or

(ii)it is not so recognised, but the applicant has undergone in the United Kingdom or elsewhere such additional training as the Council may require.

(4)An order under subsection (3)(b) may provide that a professional qualification designated by the order is to be regarded as having Community equivalence for the purposes of registration in a part of the register only if prescribed conditions required by a directive issued by the Council of the European Communities are fulfilled; and different conditions may be prescribed with respect to the same qualification for different circumstances.

(5)Any person who—

(a)is not a national of an EEA State, but

(b)is, by virtue of a right conferred by Article 11 of [O.J. No. L257.] Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1612/68 or any other enforceable Community right, entitled to be treated, for the purposes of access to the nursing profession, or the profession of midwifery, no less favourably than a national of such a State,

shall be treated for the purposes of subsection (3)(b) as if he were such a national.

(6)In the case of an applicant within subsection (3)(c), the rules may either—

(a)make it an additional condition of his being registered that he has the necessary knowledge of English; or

(b)require him to have that knowledge within a period specified by the rules (failing which his registration will lapse at the end of the period).

(7)ln any case where—

(a)an application for admission to a part of the register is made by an applicant within subsection (3)(b), and

(b)the Central Council has received all the documentary evidence as to his character and qualifications required to enable him to be registered,

he shall be registered in that part within three months of the date on which the Council was in receipt of that evidence or such longer period as may be permitted in his case by Article 10 of the Nursing Directive or Article 11 of the Midwifery Directive.

(8)In this Act—

• “EEA State” means a Contracting Party to the EEA Agreement;

• “EEA Agreement” means the [O.J. No. L1.] Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2nd May 1992 as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17th March 1993;

• “national”, in relation to an EEA State, means the same as it does for the purposes of the Community Treaties.

9Deemed registration of visiting EEA nurses and midwives

(1)A visiting EEA nurse may practise as a nurse responsible for general care during the period specified in his relevant documents in pursuance of section 21(5)(a)(ii), and while he is so practising he shall be deemed to be registered as a nurse responsible for general care.

(2)A visiting EEA midwife shall be deemed to be registered as a midwife during the period specified in her relevant documents in pursuance of section 21(5)(a)(ii).

10Removal from, and restoration to, register

(1)The Central Council shall by rules determine circumstances in which, and the means by which—

(a)a person may, for misconduct or otherwise, be removed from the register or a part of it, whether or not for a specified period;

(b)a person who has been removed from the register or a part of it may be restored to it;

(c)a person’s registration in the register or a part of it may be directed to be suspended, that is to say, not to have effect during such period as may be specified in the direction;

(d)the suspension of a person’s registration in the register or a part of it may be terminated; and

(e)an entry in the register may be removed, altered or restored.

(2)Committees of the Council shall be constituted by the rules to deal with proceedings for a person’s removal from, or restoration to, the register, for the suspension, or termination of the suspension, of a person’s registration in the register or for the removal, alteration or restoration of any entry.

(3)The Council may bring proceedings before a committee constituted in pursuance of subsection (2) in respect of a visiting EEA nurse or midwife for the purpose of determining whether by reason of his misconduct or otherwise the provisions of this Act (except this section) relating to visiting EEA nurses or midwives should cease to apply to him; and the provisions of this section and of rules made under this section shall apply, with any necessary modifications, in relation to any such proceedings as they apply in relation to proceedings relating to a person’s removal from the register.

(4)In any case where it is determined that those provisions should cease to apply to any person he shall thereupon cease to be a visiting EEA nurse or, as the case may be, a visiting EEA midwife for the purposes of this Act and accordingly shall also cease to be deemed to be registered; and he shall not be entitled to be treated as such a nurse or midwife before the expiry of such period (if any) as may be specified in the determination, or if no such period is specified, without the written consent of the Council.

(5)The committees need not be constituted exclusively from members of the Council, but the rules shall provide, in relation to committees constituted by them, that there shall be a quorum only if a majority of those present are members of the Council.

(6)The rules shall so provide that the members of a committee constituted to adjudicate upon the conduct of any person are selected with due regard to the professional field in which that person works.

(7)The rules shall make provision as to the procedure to be followed, and the rules of evidence to be observed, in such proceedings, whether before the Council itself or before any committee so constituted, and for the proceedings to be in public except in such cases (if any) as the rules may specify.

(8)Schedule 2 to this Act has effect with respect to the conduct of proceedings to which this section applies.

(9)Where a person’s registration in the register or a part of it is suspended under subsection (1)(c), he shall be treated as not being registered in the register or part notwithstanding that his name still appears in it.

11Cautions

(1)Without prejudice to the generality of section 10, rules under that section may make provision with respect to the giving, in the course of disciplinary proceedings, of cautions as to future conduct.

(2)Rules under section 10 may also make provision with respect to the keeping by the Council of a record of any caution as to future conduct given in the course of disciplinary proceedings.

(3)For the purposes of this section, “disciplinary proceedings” means proceedings for removal from the register or a part of it for misconduct.

12Appeals

(1)A person aggrieved by a decision to remove him from the register or to direct that his registration in the register be suspended or to remove or alter any entry in respect of him, or by any decision under section 10(3) or (4), may, within three months after the date on which notice of the decision is given to him by the Council, appeal to the appropriate court; and on the appeal—

(a)the court may give such directions in the matter as it thinks proper, including directions as to the costs of the appeal; and

(b)the order of the court shall be final.

(2)The appropriate court for the purposes of this section is the High Court, the Court of Session or the High Court in Northern Ireland, according as the appellant’s ordinary place of residence is in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland at the time when notice of the decision is given.

13False claim of professional qualification

(1)A person commits an offence if, with intent to deceive (whether by words or in writing or by the assumption of any name or description, or by the wearing of any uniform or badge or by any other kind of conduct)—

(a)he falsely represents himself to possess qualifications in nursing, midwifery or health visiting; or

(b)he falsely represents himself to be registered in the register, or in a particular part of it.

(2)A person commits an offence if—

(a)with intent that any person shall be deceived, he causes or permits another person to make any representation about himself which, if made by himself with intent to deceive, would be an offence by him under subsection (1); or

(b)with intent to deceive, he makes with regard to another person any representation which—

(i)is false to his own knowledge, and

(ii)if made by the other with that intent would be an offence by the other under that subsection.

(3)A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.