The Medical Act 1983 (Amendment) Order 2000

Insertion of sections 41A and 41B

10.  After section 41 there shall be inserted—

“Interim Orders

41A.— (1) Where the Interim Orders Committee are satisfied that it is necessary for the protection of members of the public or is otherwise in the public interest, or is in the interests of a fully registered person, for the registration of that person to be suspended or to be made subject to conditions, the Committee may make an order—

(a) that his registration in the register shall be suspended (that is to say, shall not have effect) during such period not exceeding eighteen months as may be specified in the order (an “interim suspension order”); or

(b) that his registration shall be conditional on his compliance, during such period not exceeding eighteen months as may be specified in the order, with such requirements so specified as the Committee think fit to impose (an “order for interim conditional registration”).

(2) Subject to subsection (9), where the Interim Orders Commitee have made an order under subsection (1), the Committee—

(a) shall review it within the period of six months beginning on the date on which the order was made, and shall thereafter, for so long as the order continues in force, further review it before the end of the period of three months beginning on the date of the decision of the immediately preceding review; and

(b) may review it where new evidence relevant to the order has become available after the making of the order.

(3) Where an interim suspension order or an order for interim conditional registration has been made in relation to any person under any provision of this section (including this subsection), the Interim Orders Committee, the Professional Conduct Committee, the Health Committee or the Committee on Professional Performance may, subject to subsection (4)—

(a) revoke the order or revoke any condition imposed by the order;

(b) vary any condition imposed by the order;

(c) if satisfied that to do so is necessary for the proection of members of the public or is otherwise in the public interest, or is in the interests of the person concerned, replace an order for interim conditional registration with an interim suspension order having effect for the remainder of the term of the former;

(d) if satisfied that the public interest, including the protection of members of the public, or the interests of the person concerned would be adequately served by an order for interim conditional registration, replace an interim suspension order with an order for interim conditional registration having effect for the remainder of the term of the former.

(4) No order under subsection (1) or (3)(b) to (d) shall be made by any Committee in respect of any person unless he has been afforded an opportunity of appearing before the Committee and being heard on the question whether such an order should be made in his case; and for the purposes of this subsection a person may be represented before the Committee by counsel or a solicitor, or (if rules made under paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 to this Act so provide and he so elects) by a person of such other description as may be specified in the rules.

(5) If an order is made under any provision of this section the Registrar shall without delay serve a notification of the order on the person to whose registration it relates.

(6) The General Council may apply to the court for an order made by the Interim Orders Committee under subsection (1) or (3) to be extended, and may apply again for further extensions.

(7) On such an application the court may extend (or further extend) for up to 12 months the period for which the order has effect.

(8) In this section, references to an interim suspension order and an order for interim conditional registration include such an order as so extended.

(9) For the purposes of subsection (2) the first review after the court’s extension of an order made by the Interim Orders Committee or after a replacement order made by the Interim Orders Committee under subsection (3)(c) or (d) shall take place—

(a) if the order (or the order which has been replaced) had not been reviewed at all under subsection (2), within the period of six months beginning on the date on which the court ordered the extension or on which a replacement order under subsection (3)(c) or (d) was made; and

(b) if it had been reviewed under the provision, within the period of three months beginning on that date.

(10) Where an order has effect under any provision of this section, the court may—

(a) in the case of an interim suspension order, terminate the suspension;

(b) in the case of an order for interim conditional registration, revoke or vary any condition imposed by the order;

(c) in either case, substitute for the period specified in the order (or in the order extending it) some other period which could have been specified in the order when it was made (or in the order extending it),

and the decision of the court under any application under this subsection shall be final.

(11) While a person’s registration in the register is suspended by virtue of an interim suspension order under this section he shall be treated as not being registered in the register notwithstanding that his name still appears in the register.

(12) This section applies to a provisionally registered person and to a person registered with limited registration whether or not the circumstances are such that he falls within the meaning in this Act of the expression “fully registered person”.

(13) In this section “the court” has the same meaning as in section 38.

Interim orders made by committees other than the Interim Orders Committee

41B.— (1) This section applies where the Professional Conduct Committee, the Committee on Professional Performance or the Health Committee have made an order under section 41A(3)(c) or (d).

(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), any Committee referred to in subsection (1) may—

(a) do any of the things referred to in section 41A(3)(a) to (d) in relation to the order; and

(b) before the expiry of the order, extend it or further extend it.

(3) Subsection (2)(b) applies equally to a replacement order made by one of those Committees by virtue of section 41A(3)(c) or (d) as applied by subsection (2)(a).

(4) An order may not be extended under this section for more than three months at a time.

(5) Subsections (5) and (10) to (13) of section 41A apply for the purposes of this section as they apply for the purposes of that section.

(6) For the purposes of rules made under paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 for the Committees referred to in subsection (1), “proceedings” in that paragraph includes proceedings under this section.”.