THE MEDICAL ACT.

CAP. XC.

An Act to regulate the Qualifications of Practitioners in Medicine and Surgery. [2nd August, 1858.]

WHEREAS it is expedient that persons requiring medical aid should be enabled to distinguish qualified from unqualified Practitioners : be it therefore 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:

Short Title.

I. This Act may for all purposes be cited as "The Medical Act."

Commencement of Act.

II. This Act shall commence and take effect from the First Day of October, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.

Medical Council.

III. A Council which shall be styled "The General Council of Medical Education and Registration of the United Kingdom," hereinafter referred to as the General Council, shall be established, and Branch Councils for England, Scotland, and Ireland respectively formed thereout as herein-after mentioned.

Members of Council.

IV. The General Council shall consist of one person chosen from time to time by each of the following bodies; (that is to say,)

The Royal College of Physicians:

The Royal College of Surgeons of England:

The Apothecaries' Society of London:

The University of Oxford:

The University of Cambridge:

The University of Durham:

The University of London:

The College of Physicians of Edinburgh:

The College of Surgeons of Edinburgh:

The Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow:

One person chosen from time to time by the University of Edinburgh and the two Universities of Aberdeen collectively:

One person chosen from time to time by the University of Glasgow and the University of St. Andrew's collectively:

One person chosen from time to time by each of the following bodies:

The King and Queen's College of Physicians in Ireland:

The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland:

The Apothecaries' Hall of Ireland:

The University of Dublin:

The Queen's University in Ireland:

And six persons to be nominated by her Majesty with the advice of

C

THE MEDICAL ACT.

her Privy Council, four of whom shall be appointed for England, one for Scotland, and one for Ireland; and of a President, to be elected by the General Council.

Provision in case the Universities of Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Saint Andrew's fail to appoint a person to represent them.

V. If the said Universities of Edinburgh and Aberdeen, of Glasgow and Saint Andrew's respectively, shall not be able to agree upon some one person to represent them in the Council, it shall be lawful for each of the said Universities to select one person; and thereupon it shall be lawful for her Majesty, with the advice of her Privy Council, to appoint one of the persons so selected to be a Member of the said Council for the said Universities.

Branches of the Council for England, Scotland, and Ireland.

VI. The Members chosen by the Medical Corporations and Universities of England, Scotland, and Ireland respectively, and the Members nominated by her Majesty, with the advice of her Privy Council, for such parts respectively of the United Kingdom, shall be the Branch Councils for such parts respectively of the United Kingdom, to which Branch Councils shall be delegated such of the powers and duties vested in the Council as the Council may see fit other than the power to make representations to her Majesty in Council as herein-after mentioned: the President shall be a Member of all the Branch Councils.

Qualification.

VII. Members of the General Council representing the Medical Corporations must be qualified to be registered under this Act.

Resignation or Death of Member of General Council.

VIII. The Members of the General Council shall be chosen and nominated for a term not exceeding five years, and shall be capable of re-appointment, and any Member may at any time resign his appointment by letter addressed to the President of the said Council, and upon the death or resignation of any Member of the said Council some other person shall be constituted a Member of the said Council in his place in manner herein-before provided; but it shall be lawful for the Council during such vacancy to exercise the powers hereinafter mentioned.

Time and Place of Meeting of the General Council.

IX. The General Council shall hold their first meeting within three months from the commencement of this Act, in such place and at such time as one of her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State shall appoint, and shall make such rules and regulations as to the times and places of the meetings of the General Council, and the mode of summoning the same, as to them shall seem expedient, which rules and regulations shall remain in force until altered at any subsequent meeting; and in the absence of any rule or regulation as to the summoning a meeting of the General Council, it shall be lawful for the President to summon a meeting at such time and place as to him shall seem expedient by letter addressed to each Member; and at every meeting, in the absence of the President, some other Member to be chosen from the Members present shall act as President; and all Acts of the General Council shall be decided by the votes of the majority of the Members present at any meeting, the whole number present not being less than eight, and at all such

meetings the President for the time being shall, in addition to his vote as a Member of the Council, have a casting vote, in case of an equality of votes; and the General Council shall have power to appoint an Executive Committee, out of their own body, of which the quorum shall not be less than three, and to delegate to such Committee such of the powers and duties vested in the Council as the Council may see fit, other than the power of making representations to her Majesty in Council as herein-after mentioned.

Appointment of Registrars and other Officers.

X. The General Council shall appoint a Registrar, who shall act as Secretary of the General Council, and who may also act as Treasurer, unless the Council shall appoint another person or other persons as Treasurer or Treasurers; and the person or persons so appointed shall hikewise act as Registrar for England, and as Secretary and Treasurer or Treasurers, as the case may be, for the Branch Council for England; the General Council and Branch Council for England shall ? also appoint so many clerks and servants as shall be necessary for the purposes of this Act; and every person so appointed by any Council shall be removable at the pleasure of that Council, and shall be paid such salary as the Council by which he was appointed shall think fit.

Appointment of Registrars and other Officers by Branch Councils.

XI. The Branch Councils for Scotland and Ireland shall each repectively in like manner appoint a Registrar and other officers and clerks, who shall be paid such salaries as such Branch Councils respectively shall think fit, and be removable at the pleasure of the Council by which they were appointed; and the person appointed Registrar shall also act as Secretary to the Branch Council, and may also act as Treasurer, unless the Council shall appoint some other person or persons as Treasurer or Treasurers.

Fees for attending at Councils.

XII There shall be paid to the Members of the Councils such fees for attendance and such reasonable travelling expenses as shall from time to time be allowed by the General Council, and approved of by the Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasurer.

Expenses of the Councils.

XIII. All monies payable to the respective Councils shall be paid to the Treasurers of such Councils respectively, and shall be applied defray the expenses of carrying this Act into execution in anner following; that is to say, separate accounts shall be kept of the expenses of the General Council, and of those of the Branch Councils; and the expenses of the General Council, including those of keeping, printing, and publishing the Register for the United Kingdom, shall be defrayed, under the direction of the General Council, by means of an equal per-centage rate upon all monies received by the several Branch Councils; returns shall be made by the Treasurers of the respective Branch Councils, at such times as the General Council shall direct, of all monies received by them; the necessary per-centage having been computed by the General Council, the respective contributions shall be paid by the Treasurers fuch Branch Councils to the Treasurer or Treasurers of the General Council; and the expenses of the Branch Councils shall be

defrayed, under the direction of those Councils respectively, out of the residue of the monies so received as aforesaid.

Duty of Registrar to keep the Register correct.

XIV. It shall be the duty of the Registrars to keep their respective registers correct in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and the orders and regulations of the General Council, and to erase the names of all registered persons who shall have died, and shall from time to time make the necessary alterations in the addresses or qualifications of the persons registered under this Act; and to enable the respective Registrars duly to fulfil the duties imposed upon them it shall be lawful for the Registrar to write a letter to any registered person, addressed to him according to his address on the register, to inquire whether he has ceased to practise, or has changed his residence, and if no answer shall be returned to such letter within the period of six months from the sending of the letter it shall be lawful to erase the name of such person from the register; provided always, that the same may be restored by direction of the General Council should they think fit to make an order to that effect.

Registration of Persons now qualified, and of Persons hereafter becoming

qualified.

XV. Every person now possessed, and (subject to the provisions herein-after contained) every person hereafter becoming possessed, of any one or more of the qualifications described in the Schedule (A.) to this Act, shall, on payment of a fee, not exceeding two pounds, in respect of qualifications obtained before the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, and not exceeding five pounds in respect of qualifications obtained on or after that day, be entitled to be registered on producing to the Registrar of the Branch Council for England, Scotland, or Ireland the document conferring or evidencing the qualification or each of the qualifications in respect whereof he seeks to be so registered, or upon transmitting by post to such Registrar information of his name and address, and evidence of the qualification or qualifications in respect whereof he seeks to be registered, and of the time or times at which the same was or were respectively obtained: Provided always that it shall be lawful for the several Colleges and other Bodies mentioned in the said Schedule (A.) to transmit from time to time to the said Registrar lists certified under their respective seals of the several persons who, in respect of qualifications granted by such Colleges and Bodies respectively, are for the time being entitled to be registered under this Act, stating the respective qualifications and places of residence of such persons; and it shall be lawful for the Registrar thereupon, and upon payment of such fee as aforesaid in respect of such person to be registered, to enter in the register the persons mentioned in such lists, with their qualifications and places of residence as therein dated, without other application in relation thereto.

Council to make orders for regulating Registers to be kept.

XVI. The General Council shall, with all convenient speed after the passing of this Act, and from time to time as occasion may require, make orders for regulating the Registers to be kept under this Act as nearly as conveniently may be in accordance with the form set forth in Schedule (D.) to this Act, or to the like effect.