1919. 9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 94. Establishment and Constitution of General Nursing Council. 1.-(1) For the purposes of this Act, there shall be established a General Nursing Council for England and Wales (in this Act referred to as "the Council "), which shall be a body corporate by that name with perpetual succession and a common seal with power to acquire and hold land without licence in mortmain. (2) The Council shall be constituted in accordance with the provisions contained in the Schedule to this Act. (3) The seal of the Council shall be authenticated in the prescribed manner and any document purporting to be sealed with the said seal so authenticated shall be receivable in evidence of the particulars stated in that document. Register of Nurses. "the 2.-(1) It shall be the duty of the Council to form and keep a register of nurses for the sick (in this Act referred to as register") subject to and in accordance with the provisions of this Act. (2) The register shall consist of the following parts : (a) a general part containing the names of all nurses who satisfy (b) a supplementary part containing the names of male nurses: (d) a supplementary part containing the names of nurses trained (e) any other prescribed part. Where any person satisfies the conditions of admission to any supplementary or prescribed part of the register, his name may be included in that part of the register notwithstanding that it is also included in the general part. (3) A certificate under the seal of the Council duly authenticated in the prescribed manner stating that any person is, or was at any date, or is not, or was not at any date, duly registered under this Act shall be conclusive evidence in all courts of law of the fact stated in the certificate. (4) Any reference in this Act to the register shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be deemed to include a reference to any part of the register, and the expression "registered" shall be construed accordingly. Rules. 3-(1) The Council shall make rules for the following purposes:— (a) for regulating the formation, maintenance, and publication of the register; (b) for regulating the conditions of admission to the register; be prescribed as a condition of admission to the register, 1919. (d) for prescribing the causes for which, the conditions under (e) for regulating the summoning of meetings of the Council and (g) generally for making provision with respect to any matters (2) Rules under this section shall contain provisions (a) requiring as a condition of the admission of any person to the register that that person shall have undergone the prescribed training, and shall possess the prescribed experience, in the nursing of the sick; 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; and (c) enabling persons who, within a period of two years after the date on which the rules to be made under the provisions of this paragraph first come into operation, make an application in that behalf (in this Act referred to as "an existing nurse's application"), to be admitted to the register on producing evidence to the satisfaction of the Council that they are of good character, are of the prescribed age, are persons who were for at least three years before the first day of November, nineteen hundred and nineteen, bona fide engaged in practice as nurses in attendance on the sick under conditions which appear to the Council to be satisfactory for the purposes of this provision and have adequate. knowledge and experience of the nursing of the sick. (3) Rules made under this section shall not come into operation unless and until they are approved by the Minister of Health. (4) Every rule made under this section shall be laid before each House of Parliament forthwith, and, if an Address is presented to His Majesty by either House of Parliament within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat next after any such rule is laid before it praying that the rule may be annulled or modified, His Majesty in Council may annul or modify the rule, and, if annulled, c. 94. 1919. 9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 94. it shall thenceforth be void, and, if modified; it shall thenceforth have effect as so modified, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder. Staff and Expenses. 4. (1) The Council may, with the previous sanction of the Minister of Health, appoint a person to act as registrar of the Council, and may, subject to the consent of the Minister as to numbers, employ such other officers as the Council consider necessary. (2) There shall be paid to the registrar and the officers of the Council such salaries or remuneration as the Council with the approval of the Minister of Health may from time to time determine. (3) Any expenses incurred by the Council in carrying this Act into effect, including expenses in connection with examinations or prosecutions under this Act and, subject as hereinafter provided, the travelling expenses of and sums paid on account of subsistence allowance to members of the Council, shall be defrayed out of the sums received by the Council by way of fees under this Act: Provided that the amount to be allowed to members of the Council in respect of travelling expenses and subsistence allowance shall be calculated in accordance with directions to be given by the Minister of Health. (4) The accounts of the Council shall be audited in such manner, and by such person as the Minister of Health may from time to time direct, and copies of the accounts, and of any report made on the accounts, shall be transmitted by the Council to such persons as the Minister may direct. Fees. 5.-(1) There shall be paid to the Council in respect of every application to be examined or to be registered under this Act, and in respect of the retention in any year of the name of any person on the register, such fees respectively as the Council may, with the approval of the Minister of Health, from time to time determine: Provided that (a) in the case of an existing nurse's application the amount of the fee payable on the application shall be such sum, not exceeding one guinea, as the Council, with such approval as aforesaid, may determine; and (b) the amount of the fee payable in respect of the retention in any year of the name of any person on the register shall not exceed two shillings and sixpence. (2) The Council may charge for any certificate or other document issued, or in respect of any services performed, by them, such fees as may be prescribed. Admission to Register of Persons Trained outside United Kingdom. 6.—(1) Any person who proves to the satisfaction of the Council that he has been registered either generally as a nurse for the sick or as a nurse of some special class in any part of His Majesty's dominions outside the United Kingdom, being a part of those 1919. dominions to which this section applies, shall be entitled, on making an application in the prescribed manner and paying such fee, not 9 & 10 Geo. 5. being greater than the fee payable on ordinary applications for registration under this Act, as the Council may demand, to be registered in a corresponding manner under this Act. (2) This section applies to any part of His Majesty's dominions. as respects which the Council are satisfied (a) that there is in force therein an enactment, or a provision of any (b) that persons registered under this Act are admitted to the (c) That the standard of training and examination required for Appeal against Removal from Register, and against Refusal to 7-(1) Any person aggrieved by the removal of his name from the register may, within three months after the date on which notice is given to him by the Council that his name has been so removed, appeal against the removal in manner provided by rules of court to the High Court, and on any such appeal the High Court may give such directions in the matter as it thinks proper, including directions as to the costs of the appeal, and the order of the High Court shall be final and conclusive and not subject to an appeal to any other court. (2) Any person aggrieved by the refusal of the Council to approve any institution for the purpose of the rules under this Act relating to training may appeal against the refusal to the Minister of Health, and the Minister, after considering the matter, shall give such directions therein as he thinks proper, and the Council shall comply with any directions so given. Penalties for Unlawful Assumption of Title of Registered Nurse and for Falsification of Register. 8.-(1) Any person who (a) not being a person duly registered under this Act, at any 0. 94. 1919. 9 & 10 Geo. 5. e. 94. Section 1. which the Minister of Health gives public notice that a register of nurses has been compiled under this Act, takes or uses the name or title of registered nurse, either alone or in combination with any other words or letters, or any name, title, addition, description, uniform, or badge, implying that he is registered under this Act or is recognised by law as a registered nurse; or (b) being a person whose name is included in any part of the register, at any time after the expiration of the period aforesaid takes or uses any name, title, addition, description, uniform, or badge, or otherwise does any act of any kind, implying that his name is included in some other part of the register; or (c) at any time with intent to deceive makes use of any certificate of registration as a nurse issued under this Act to him or any other person, shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding, in the case of a first offence, ten pounds, and in the case of a second or any subsequent offence fifty pounds. (2) If any person wilfully makes, or causes to be made, any falsification in any matter relating to the register, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds. Extent and Short Title. 9.-(1) This Act shall not extend to Scotland or Ireland. SCHEDULE. CONSTITUTION OF COUNCIL. 1. The Council shall consist of twenty-five members. 2. On its first constitution the Council shall be composed of the following persons, namely:— Two persons, who shall not be registered medical practitioners, or nurses, or persons concerned with the regular direction or provision of the services of nurses, appointed by the Privy Council: Two persons appointed by the Board of Education : Five persons appointed by the Minister of Health, after con- |