The General Council is designated as the competent authority in the United Kingdom for the purposes of the Directive so far as relating to the medical profession.

The bodies and combinations of bodies F31included in the list maintained under section 4(1) are designated as competent authorities in the United Kingdom for the purposes of awarding primary United Kingdom qualifications.

Subject to subsection (6), the Secretary of State may give directions to the General Council in connection with their functions specified in Schedule 4A, and it shall be the duty of the General Council to comply with any such directions.

Directions given under subsection (5) may be as to matters of administration only.

In Schedule 4A, “non-UK medical qualification” means a medical qualification that is awarded to a person by a competent authority of a relevant European State other than the United Kingdom.

If the General Council fail to comply with any directions of the Privy Council relating to a notification given under subsection (1) above, the Privy Council may themselves give effect to those directions, and for that purpose may exercise any power vested in the General Council or do any act or thing authorised to be done by that Council and may of their own motion do any act or thing which under this Act they are authorised to do in pursuance of a representation or suggestion from the General Council.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Any power of the Privy Council to make orders under the provisions of this Act F32... shall be exercisable by statutory instrument.

Except as provided in subsection (3) below, any statutory instrument containing an Order in Council or order of the Privy Council under any provision of this Act shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

Any power vested in the Privy Council by this Act may be exercised by any two or more of the lords and others of the Council.

Any act of the Privy Council under this Act shall be sufficiently signified by an instrument signed by the clerk of the Council, and an order or act signified by an instrument purporting to be signed by the clerk of the Council shall be deemed to have been duly made or done by the Privy Council, and an instrument so signed shall be received in evidence in all courts and proceedings without proof of the authority or signature of the clerk of the Council or other proof.

The General Council shall submit copies of the reports and the plan published under subsection (1) to the Privy Council and the Privy Council shall lay copies of the reports and the plan before each House of Parliament.

In this Act—

• “acceptable overseas qualification” has the meaning given by F17section 21B(2) above;

• F11“acceptable programme for provisionally registered doctors” has the meaning given by section 10A(1) above;

• “additional qualification” has the meaning given by section 16(2) above;

• F41...

• F41...

• F45“CCT” means a certificate of completion of training awarded under section 34L(1);

• F21“competent authority” means any authority or body of a relevant European State designated by that State for the purposes of the Directive as competent to—

  1. a

     receive or issue evidence of qualifications or other information or documents, or

  2. b

     receive applications and take the decisions referred to in the Directive,

  in connection with the practice of medicine;

• F21“the Directive” has the meaning given by section 5(4) above;

• F22. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• “disqualifying decision” has the meaning given by section 44(2) above;

• F23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• F41...

• F42“exempt person” has the meaning given in section 19(2) above;

• F1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• F24“fully registered person” means a person for the time being registered under section 3, 14A, F3018A, 19, 19A, 21B, 27A or 27B above as a fully registered medical practitioner, or under Schedule 2A as a visiting medical practitioner from a relevant European State, and—

  1. a

     so far as mentioned in subsection (3) of section 15 (including that subsection as applied by section F1815A(4), 21 or 21C above, but not further, includes a person for the time being provisionally registered;

  2. b

     F13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  and “fully registered” shall be construed accordingly;

• “the General Council” means the General Medical Council;

• F45“General Practitioner Register” means the register kept by the General Council under section 34C;

• F25“the General Systems Regulations” means the European Communities (Recognition of Professional Qualifications) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/2781);

• F45“GP Registrar” means a medical practitioner who is being trained in general practice whether as part of training leading to the award of a CCT or otherwise;

• F42“impaired”, in relation to a person’s fitness to practise, has the meaning given in section 35C(2) above;

• F14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• “national”, in relation to a F26relevant European State, has the same meaning as in the Community Treaties, but does not include a person who by virtue of Article 2 of Protocol No. 3 (Channel Islands and Isle of Man) to the Treaty of Accession is not to benefit from Community provisions relating to the free movement of persons and services;

• “the necessary knowledge of English”, in relation to an applicant for registration under this Act, means the knowledge which, in the interests of himself and his patients, is necessary for the practice of medicine in the United Kingdom;

• F45“NHS consultant” means a consultant other than a locum consultant (but including an honorary consultant) employed for the purposes of providing any service as part of any of the UK health services;

• F41...

• F15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• “the prescribed knowledge and skill” has the meaning given by section 5(4) above;

• F12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• “the prescribed standard of proficiency” has the meaning given by section 5(4) above;

• “primary European qualification” shall be construed in accordance with section 17 above;

• “primary United Kingdom qualification” has the meaning given by section 4(3) above;

• F42“professional performance” includes a medical practitioner’s professional competence;

• “provisionally registered” means provisionally registered under section 15 , F1915A, 21 or 21C above;

• “qualification”, except where the context otherwise requires, means any diploma, degree, fellowship, membership, licence, authority to practise, letters testimonial, certificate or other status or document granted in respect of any branch or branches of medicine by any university, corporation, college or other body or by any department of, or persons acting under the authority of, the government of any country or place;

• F2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• F45“recognised specialty” means a specialty which the Privy Council have designated as a recognised specialty by order under section 34D(3);

• F16“the register” means the register of medical practitioners;

• “the Registrar” has the meaning given by section 2(1) above but subject to sub-paragraph (3) of paragraph 16 of Schedule 1 to this Act;

• F27“relevant European State” means an EEA State or Switzerland;

• F42“revalidation” has the meaning given in section 29A above;

• F3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• F45“Specialist Register” means the register kept by the General Council under section 34D;

• F42“the statutory committees” has the meaning given in section 1(3A) above;

• F45“the UK health services” means—

  1. a

     the health service as defined by section 275(1) of the National Health Service Act 2006 or section 206(1) of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006 ;

  2. b

     the health service as defined by section 108(1) of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 ; and

  3. c

     any of the health services under any enactment which extends to Northern Ireland and which corresponds to section 1(1) of the National Health Service Act 2006;

In this section, “Directive 93/16/EEC” means Council Directive 93/16/EEC of 5th April 1993 to facilitate the free movement of doctors and the mutual recognition of their diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications (OJ No. L165, 7.7.93, p.1).

Schedule 5 (consequential amendments) and Schedule 6 (transitional and saving provisions) to this Act shall have effect but without prejudice to the operation of sections 15 to 17 of the Interpretation Act 1978 (which relate to the effect of repeals); and in Schedule 6 “the 1956 Act” and “the M11978 Act” mean the M2Medical Act 1956 and the M3Medical Act 1978 respectively.

Subject to subsection (1) above, the enactments specified in Part I of Schedule 7 to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Part of that Schedule.

The instruments specified in Part II of Schedule 7 to this Act are hereby revoked to the extent specified in the third column of that Part, but the re-enactment of Articles 4, 7 and 8 of the M4Medical Qualifications (EEC Recognition) Order 1977 in provisions of this Act shall be without prejudice to the validity of those Articles, and any question as to the validity of them shall be determined as if the re-enacting provision of this Act were contained in a statutory instrument made under the powers under which that Order was made.

This Act may be cited as the Medical Act 1983.

This Act shall come into force at the end of the period of three months beginning with the day on which it is passed.

This Act extends to Northern Ireland.