20.—(1) Subject to this section and section 21, the Director-General may, without compensation, take any regulatory action described in subsection (2) against a licensee if the Director-General is satisfied that —| (a) | the licence has been obtained by the licensee by fraud, or the licensee has, in connection with the application for the grant of the licence, made a statement or provided any information or document that is false, misleading or inaccurate in a material particular; | | (b) | the licensee is contravening or not complying with, or has contravened or failed to comply with —| (i) | any condition of the licence; | | (ii) | any duty of a licensee under section 23(2) or (3), 24 or 25; | | (iii) | any other provision of this Act, the contravention of which is not an offence under this Act; | | (iv) | any provision of a code of practice applicable to the licensee; | | (v) | any direction issued to the licensee by the Director-General under this Act; or | | (vi) | any requirement of the Director-General under section 19 or subsection (2)(b)(iii) to give a security deposit or a direction under this section to pay a financial penalty; |
| | (c) | the licensee is no longer a suitable person to be granted a licence, having regard to the matters mentioned in section 2(3); | | (d) | the licensee is, or is likely to be, declared a bankrupt or has gone, or is likely to go, into compulsory or voluntary liquidation other than for the purpose of amalgamation or reconstruction; | | (e) | the licensee has made any assignment to, or composition with, the licensee’s creditors or, if the licensee is a company, is unable to pay its debts; | | (f) | the licensee, or any of the following individuals, is convicted of an offence under this Act committed during the term of the licence:| (i) | where the licensee is a company, limited liability partnership or other body corporate — any member of the board of directors or committee or board of trustees or other governing body, or the chief executive, any manager, secretary or other similar officer or any person who purported to act in any such capacity; | | (ii) | where the licensee is a partnership — any partner of the partnership; |
| | (g) | any premises at which the licensee provides, or any conveyance the licensee uses to provide, the licensable healthcare service to which the licence relates, or any part of those premises or that conveyance, or any facilities or equipment in those premises or that conveyance, is no longer safe or suitable for use in providing that licensable healthcare service; [Act 11 of 2023 wef 26/06/2023] | | (h) | the licensee is unable to continue providing the licensable healthcare service to which the licence relates —| (i) | in a safe manner; or | | (ii) | in a manner that is clinically and ethically appropriate; or |
| | (i) | the public interest so requires. [Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023] |
(2) The regulatory action that the Director-General may take against a licensee in respect of a matter mentioned in subsection (1) is as follows:| (a) | with or without forfeiting any security deposit given by the licensee under this section or section 19, revoke a licence of that licensee; | | (b) | in lieu of paragraph (a), all or any of the following:| (i) | censure the licensee in writing; | | (ii) | modify any condition of the licence; | | (iii) | require the licensee to give an additional security deposit in the form mentioned in section 19; | | (iv) | forfeit the whole or part of any security deposit given by the licensee under this section and section 19 but not exceeding the limit in sub‑paragraph (viii); | | (v) | direct the licensee to do, or refrain from doing, any thing specified in the direction, and within the period specified in the direction (if specified), to rectify a contravention or non‑compliance or prevent a recurrence of the contravention or non‑compliance; | | (vi) | shorten (for not longer than prescribed) the term of the licence; | | (vii) | suspend the licence for a period that the Director-General thinks fit; | | (viii) | unless a financial penalty has been imposed under subsection (3A)(b)(v) in respect of the act or omission that is the subject of the matter mentioned in subsection (1), direct the licensee to pay, within a period specified, a financial penalty of the amount that the Director-General thinks fit, being —| (A) | not more than $10,000 for each contravention or non‑compliance mentioned in subsection (1)(b) that is the subject; or | | (B) | in any other case, not more than $10,000. [Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023] [Act 11 of 2023 wef 26/06/2023] |
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(3) Subject to this section and section 21, the Director-General may, without compensation, take any regulatory action described in subsection (3A) against a licensee who is granted an approval for a specified service, permanent premises, conveyance or service delivery mode if the Director-General is satisfied that —| (a) | the licensee is contravening or not complying with, or has contravened or failed to comply with —| (i) | any condition of the approval; | | (ii) | any other provision of this Act relating to the specified service, permanent premises, conveyance or service delivery mode, the contravention of which is not an offence under this Act; | | (iii) | any provision of a code of practice applicable to the licensee in relation to the specified service, permanent premises, conveyance or service delivery mode; or | | (iv) | any direction issued to the licensee by the Director-General under this Act in relation to the specified service, permanent premises, conveyance or service delivery mode; |
| | (b) | in the case of an approval for a specified service — any premises at which the licensee provides, or any conveyance the licensee uses to provide, the specified service, or any part of those premises or that conveyance, or any facilities, process, protocol or equipment in those premises or that conveyance, is no longer safe or suitable for use in providing that specified service; or | | (c) | in the case of an approval for permanent premises, a conveyance or a service delivery mode — any premises, conveyance, facilities, process, protocol or equipment used in connection with the permanent premises, conveyance or service delivery mode is no longer safe or suitable for the provision of the licensable healthcare service. [Act 11 of 2023 wef 26/06/2023] |
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(3A) The regulatory action that the Director-General may take against a licensee in respect of a matter mentioned in subsection (3) is as follows:| (a) | cancel the approval for the specified service, permanent premises, conveyance or service delivery mode; | | (b) | in lieu of paragraph (a), all or any of the following:| (i) | censure the licensee in writing; | | (ii) | modify any condition of the approval; | | (iii) | direct the licensee to do, or refrain from doing, any thing specified in the direction, and within the period specified in the direction (if specified), to rectify a contravention or non‑compliance or prevent a recurrence of the contravention or non‑compliance; | | (iv) | suspend the approval for a period that the Director-General thinks fit; | | (v) | unless a financial penalty has been imposed under subsection (2)(b)(viii) in respect of the act or omission that is the subject of the matter mentioned in subsection (3), direct the licensee to pay, within a period specified, a financial penalty of the amount that the Director-General thinks fit, being —| (A) | not more than $10,000 for each contravention or non‑compliance mentioned in subsection (3) that is the subject; or | | (B) | in any other case, not more than $10,000. [Act 11 of 2023 wef 26/06/2023] |
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| (4) For the purposes of subsection (1)(e), a company is unable to pay its debts if it is a company which is deemed to be so unable under any written law relating to the insolvency of companies. |
| (5) In any proceedings under this section in relation to the conviction of any person for an offence, the Director-General must accept the person’s conviction as final. [Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023] |
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