Nurses (Scotland) Act 1951

Section 1.

FIRST SCHEDULE The General Nursing Council for Scotland

Constitution of the Council

1 The Council shall consist of—

(a) thirteen persons elected as hereinafter mentioned;

(b) eleven persons appointed by the Secretary of State;

(c) two persons appointed by the Privy Council, of whom one shall be appointed to represent universities in Scotland.

2 (1) Of the elected members of the Council—

(a) seven, who shall be nurses (including male nurses) registered in the general part of the register, shall be elected by nurses so registered;

(b) two, who shall be registered mental nurses or registered nurses for mental defectives, shall be elected by nurses so registered, and one of the persons so elected shall be a man and one a woman;

(c) one, who shall be a registered fever nurse, shall be elected by registered fever nurses;

(d) one, who shall be a registered sick children's nurse, shall be elected by registered sick children's nurses;

(e) two, who shall be persons holding certificates given by virtue of paragraph (f) of subsection (1) of section six of this Act (which paragraph provides for the giving of certificates to persons trained in the teaching of nursing) shall be elected by such persons.

(2) Each of the nurses to be elected in pursuance of the last foregoing sub-paragraph shall, on the date of election, be engaged in Scotland in nursing or in other work for which the employment of a registered nurse is requisite or for which a registered nurse is commonly employed.

3 The members of the Council appointed by the Secretary of State shall include—

(a) two registered nurses employed in services provided under Part III of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act, 1947, appointed by him after consultation with such persons and bodies as he thinks fit, being persons and bodies having special knowledge and experience of the work of nurses so employed;

(b) duly qualified medical practitioners, appointed by him after consultation with such organisations representative of the medical profession as he thinks fit;

(c) persons with experience in hospital management, appointed by him after consultation with such persons and bodies having experience in hospital management as he thinks fit;

(d) persons with experience in local government, appointed by him after consultation with such local health authorities, or such organisations representative of local health authorities, as he thinks fit; and

(e) a person or persons with financial experience.

Supplementary Provisions

4 The members of the Council required by the foregoing provisions of this Schedule to be elected shall be elected in accordance with the prescribed scheme and in the prescribed manner.

5 The members of the Council holding office at the date of the passing of this Act shall vacate office, if they were appointed by the Secretary of State or the Privy Council, on the expiry of a term of three years commencing on the first day of December, nineteen hundred and fifty, and, in any other case, on the expiry of a term of five years commencing on the last-mentioned date; and the successors in office of all the members of the Council shall hold office for a term of five years.

6 (1) If the place of a member of the Council becomes vacant before the expiration of his term of office whether by death, resignation or otherwise, the vacancy shall, if the member was appointed by the Secretary of State or the Privy Council, be filled by a person appointed by the Secretary of State or the Privy Council, as the case may be, and in any other case shall be filled by a person appointed by the Council.

(2) A person appointed to fill a casual vacancy occurring in the place of an elected member of the Council shall be a person who would be qualified for election to that place if an election were to take place on the date on which he is appointed, and a person appointed to fill any other casual vacancy shall, if the place vacant was originally filled by a person required by the foregoing provisions of this Schedule to be a person of a particular class, himself be of that class.

(3) A person appointed to fill a casual vacancy shall hold office only so long as the member in whose stead he is appointed would have held office.

7 A person ceasing to be a member of the Council shall be eligible for re-appointment or re-election.

8 The powers of the Council may be exercised notwithstanding a vacancy in their number.

9 The Council shall make rules—

(a) for regulating the summoning of meetings of the Council and the proceedings (including quorum) of the Council; and

(b) for enabling the Council to constitute committees and for authorising the delegation to committees of any of the powers of the Council, and for regulating the proceedings (including quorum) of committees.