There shall continue to be a body corporate known as the General Medical Council (in this Act referred to as “the General Council”) having the functions assigned to them by this Act.

The main objective of the General Council in exercising their functions is to protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public.

The General Council shall be constituted as provided by Her Majesty by Order in Council under this section subject to the provisions of Part I of Schedule 1 to this Act.

There F2shall be F3seven committees of the General Council known as the Education Committee, F4the Interim Orders Committee, the Preliminary Proceedings Committee, the Professional Conduct Committee F5, the Assessment Referral Committee, the Committee on Professional Performance and the Health Committee (in this Act referred to as “the statutory committees”) constituted in accordance with Part III of Schedule 1 to this Act and having the functions assigned to them by F5or under this Act.

Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect with respect to the General Council, its branch councils and committees, its proceedings, its officers and its accounts.

There shall continue to be kept by the registrar of the General Council (in this Act referred to as “the Registrar”) two registers of medical practitioners registered under this Act containing the names of those registered and the qualifications they are entitled to have registered under this Act.

Medical practitioners shall be registered as fully registered medical practitioners or provisionally or with limited registration as provided in Parts II and III of this Act and in the appropriate list of the register of medical practitioners or in the register of medical practitioners with limited registration as provided in Part IV of this Act.