The Health Professions Council (Practice Committees and Miscellaneous Amendments) Rules Order of Council 2009

PART 2 Practice Committees

The Practice Committees

3.—(1) Each Practice Committee shall consist of not more than 350 persons, appointed by the Council, none of whom is a member of the Council.

(2) Members of a Practice Committee may only participate in the proceedings of the committee that they are invited to participate in by the Registrar or by a person authorised by the Registrar to invite them.

(3) The panel of members invited to participate in any proceedings of a Practice Committee in accordance with paragraph (2) may, at those proceedings, perform any function of that Practice Committee that it is reasonable for them to perform.

(4) The Council shall determine the duration of the term of office of members of the Practice Committees on their appointment.

(5) No person may be a member of one or more Practice Committees for more than an aggregate of 8 years during any period of 20 years but, for the purpose of computing that aggregate, any service as a member of a Practice Committee prior to 1st July 2007 is to be discounted.

(6) The quorum for a Practice Committee (that is, for a panel of members invited in accordance with paragraph (2)) is 3, of whom at least one must be—

(a) a registrant from the same part of the register as any registrant who is the subject of the proceedings;

(b) a lay member; and

(c) a panel chair (who may also count as the registrant or lay member mentioned in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b)).

Chairing of the Practice Committees

4.—(1) The Council shall appoint, from among the members of each of the Practice Committees, persons to chair proceedings of the committee of which they are a member (“panel chairs”).

(2) Of those persons, the Council shall designate one panel chair of each Practice Committee to act as the chair of that committee for a period determined by the Council on designation.

(3) If the Registrar or the person duly authorised on the Registrar’s behalf (“the inviter”) does not invite the chair to participate in particular proceedings of the Practice Committee—

(a) the inviter must invite another panel chair to those proceedings; and

(b) subject to paragraph (4), that panel chair shall chair the proceedings in place of the chair of the committee.

(4) If at any proceedings of a Practice Committee, the panel chair invited to chair the proceedings is absent, the members of the committee at that meeting may nominate one of their number from amongst the members who are present to chair the proceedings.

(5) A person serving as a chair or panel chair of a Practice Committee shall cease to be a chair or panel chair—

(a) if the member ceases to be a member of the Practice Committee in question;

(b) if the member resigns as a chair or panel chair (or both), which they may do at any time by a notice in writing to the Council; or

(c) if the Council votes to terminate the member’s appointment as a chair or panel chair (or both).

Validity of panel proceedings

5.—(1) The validity of any Practice Committee proceedings is not affected by—

(a) a member whom the Council must remove from the committee under rule 7(1)(b) to (f) participating in the proceedings;

(b) a member whom the Council has removed under rule 7(1) having participated in the proceedings; or

(c) a member who has been suspended by the Council under rule 8(1) or (2) having participated in the proceedings.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(a), a member whom the Council must remove from a committee under rule 7(1)(b) to (f) is not entitled to participate in proceedings of the committee, pending the member’s removal from the committee by the Council.