Medical Act 1983

31 Power to make regulations with respect to the registers

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the General Council may make regulations with respect to the form and keeping of the registers and the making of entries, alterations and corrections in them.

(2) Regulations under this section may provide for the registers to be kept either by making entries in bound books or by recording the matters in question in any other manner; and if either register is not kept by making entries in bound books, adequate precautions shall be taken for guarding against, and facilitating the discovery of, falsification.

(3) Different regulations may be made under this section by virtue of subsection (1) or (2) above in relation to the register of medical practitioners and the register of medical practitioners with limited registration.

(4) Regulations under this section shall provide for the marking of the register of medical practitioners so as to distinguish those provisionally registered under section 15 above and those provisionally registered under section 21 above.

(5) Regulations under this section shall, for the purposes of the register of medical practitioners, prescribe—

(a) the circumstances in which persons are to be treated for the purposes of this Act and of any regulations made by the General Council as residing overseas ;

(b) the conditions (which may include the making of an application in the prescribed manner) subject to which persons are to be entitled to be included in the overseas list by reason of residence overseas; and

(c) the circumstances in which persons are to cease to be entitled to be included in that list;

but regulations made in pursuance of this subsection shall not provide for a person to be treated for the purposes of this Act as residing overseas unless he resides outside the British Islands.

(6) Regulations under this section may authorise the Registrar to erase from the overseas list of the register of medical practitioners the name of any person who has ceased to be entitled to be included in it, but any regulations made in pursuance of this subsection shall include provision for entitling a person whose name is erased from that list by virtue of this subsection otherwise than on his own application to appeal within a prescribed period to such committee of the General Council as may be prescribed.

(7) On any appeal under subsection (6) above, the committee in question, after making such investigation (if any) of the appellant's conduct as they think fit, may if they think fit direct his name to be restored to the overseas list.

(8) Regulations under this section may make provision with respect to the restoration to the registers or a particular list in the register of medical practitioners in which he was registered of the name of any person whose name has been erased, from it by virtue of section 30(5) above or of any regulations made in pursuance of subsection (6) above or section 32(2) below.

(9) Regulations under this section made by virtue of subsection (8) above may include provision—

(a) for authorising the Registrar, notwithstanding anything in this Act, to refuse to restore to the register or a particular list in it the name of any such person as is mentioned in that subsection unless he furnishes to the Registrar such evidence of his identity and good character as may be prescribed; and

(b) for securing that, in such circumstances as may be prescribed, such a person's name is not so restored unless the General Council or a committee of the Council so direct after making such investigation of his conduct as they think fit;

but nothing in any regulation made in pursuance of this subsection shall apply to the restoration of a person's name to the overseas list of the register of medical practitioners in pursuance of a direction under subsection (7) above.

(10) Regulations made in pursuance of subsection (5), (6), (8) or (9) above shall not have effect until approved by order of the Privy Council.

(11) In this section "prescribed" means prescribed by regulations under this section.