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Police Reform Act 2002

Section 54: Persons authorised to take intimate samples from persons in police detention

301.Section 62(9) of PACE provides that intimate samples other than urine samples or dental impressions may only be taken by a registered medical practitioner and that a dental impression may only be taken by a registered dentist.

302.Subsection (1) amends section 62(9) so that registered health care professionals may also take samples that currently must be taken by a registered medical practitioner.

303.Subsections (2) and (3) define the term ‘registered health care professional’. A registered health care professional is a person (other than a medical practitioner) who is a registered nurse or a registered member of a health care profession which has been designated by the Secretary of State. The health care professions which may be designated are those professions specified in section 60(2) of the Health Act 1999, namely:

(a)

the professions regulated by the Pharmacy Act 1954, the Medical Act 1983, the Dentists Act 1984, the Opticians Act 1989, the Osteopaths Act 1993 and the Chiropractors Act 1994,

(b)

the professions regulated by the Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act 1997,

(c)

the professions regulated by the Professions Supplementary to Medicine Act 1960,

(d)

any other profession regulated by an Order in Council under section 60 of the Health Act 1999.

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