New section 18A
10. After section 18 (visiting medical practitioners from relevant European States), insert the following section—
“Temporary registration with regard to emergencies involving loss of human life or human illness etc.
18A.—(1) If the Secretary of State advises the Registrar that an emergency has occurred, is occurring or is about to occur and that action should be considered under this section, the Registrar may register under this section—
(a)a person as a fully registered medical practitioner, if the Registrar considers that the person is a fit, proper and suitably experienced person to be registered as a fully registered medical practitioner with regard to the emergency; or
(b)the persons comprising a specified group of persons as fully registered medical practitioners, if the Registrar considers that the group is comprised of persons who are of a type who may reasonably be considered fit, proper and suitably experienced persons to be registered as fully registered medical practitioners with regard to the emergency.
(2) The Registrar may register under this section by virtue of subsection (1)(b) all of the persons comprising a specified group of persons without first identifying each person in the group.
(3) The registration of a person under this section is subject to such conditions as the Registrar may specify, and the Registrar may at any time vary the conditions to which a person’s registration under this section is subject (including by adding to the conditions or revoking any conditions).
(4) The registration of any person registered under this section by virtue of subsection (1)(b) as one of a specified group may be subject to the same conditions as the registration of other members of the group, or it may be subject to different conditions.
(5) A person’s registration under this section shall cease to have effect if revoked by the Registrar, which—
(a)the Registrar must do if the Secretary of State advises the Registrar that the circumstances that led the Secretary of State to advise the Registrar as mentioned in subsection (1) no longer exist;
(b)the Registrar may do for any other reason at any time, including where the Registrar has grounds for suspecting that the person’s fitness to practise may be impaired.
(6) The registration of a person registered under this section by virtue of subsection (1)(b) as one of a specified group may be revoked without revoking the registration of the other members of the group, or it may be revoked by virtue of a decision to revoke the registration of all the members of the group.
(7) Part 5 of this Act, apart from sections 35, 35A(1) and (4) to (8) and 35B(2) and (3), shall not apply to persons registered under this section.
(8) If a person breaches any condition to which the person’s registration under this section is subject, anything done by the person in breach of that condition is to be treated as not being done by a registered medical practitioner.
(9) For the purposes of this section, “emergency” means an emergency of the type described in section 19(1)(a) of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004() (meaning of “emergency”), read with subsection (2)(a) and (b) of that section.”