10. Regulations 49 to 54 of the principal Regulations are replaced with —49.—(1) Where a complaint or information is referred to a Health Committee under section 40(9)(a), 46(2)(a)(ii) or 59C(1) of the Act in respect of a practitioner, the Health Committee must, as soon as practicable, send the practitioner a notice of inquiry comprising the following:(a) | a copy each of any complaint or information and of any statutory declaration or affidavit made in support of the complaint or information; | (b) | a statement that the practitioner may, within 60 days after the date of the notice, submit —(i) | not more than 2 medical reports by registered medical practitioners nominated by the practitioner, on the practitioner’s fitness to practise; and | (ii) | any observations or other evidence that the practitioner may wish to offer as to the practitioner’s own fitness to practise. |
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(2) A practitioner must, within 14 days after the date of the notice —(a) | inform the Health Committee whether the practitioner wishes to nominate one or more registered medical practitioners under paragraph (1)(b)(i), and submit to the Health Committee the name of each nominated registered medical practitioner at the same time; and | (b) | inform the Health Committee whether the practitioner intends to submit observations or other evidence under paragraph (1)(b)(ii). |
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(3) Where a registered medical practitioner nominated by a practitioner under paragraph (1)(b)(i) agrees to examine the practitioner for the purposes of preparing the medical report, the practitioner must immediately send the registered medical practitioner the documents mentioned in paragraph (1)(a). |
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Health Committee may direct medical examination |
50.—(1) The Health Committee may, at any time after the notice of inquiry mentioned in regulation 49(1) is sent to a practitioner, direct the practitioner to undergo an examination by one or more registered medical practitioners appointed by the Health Committee.(2) The Health Committee must, upon appointing one or more registered medical practitioners under paragraph (1), send the documents mentioned in regulation 49(1)(a) to the appointed registered medical practitioner or practitioners. |
(3) A registered medical practitioner appointed under paragraph (1) must, after examining the practitioner, submit a report to the Health Committee —(a) | on the fitness of the practitioner to practise, either independently or under supervision or with conditions; and | (b) | on the registered medical practitioner’s recommendations (if any) as to the clinical management of any condition affecting the practitioner’s physical or mental fitness. |
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(4) The Health Committee must —(a) | send to the practitioner a copy of each of the reports mentioned in paragraph (3); and | (b) | invite the practitioner to submit any further written observations or other evidence which the practitioner may wish to offer as to the practitioner’s own fitness to practise. |
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(5) Where the Health Committee directs a practitioner to undergo an examination under paragraph (1) but the practitioner refuses or otherwise fails to undergo the examination, the Health Committee may draw an adverse inference against the practitioner and proceed with the inquiry (which includes the making of any order under section 59I(1) of the Act) as it thinks fit. |
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Health Committee may give directions by letter |
51. The Health Committee may give the parties directions relating to the conduct of the inquiry by way of a letter. |
Notice of hearing by Health Committee |
52.—(1) Where the Health Committee considers it necessary to conduct a hearing, it must send the Medical Council and the practitioner a notice of hearing —(a) | indicating the physical or mental condition by reason of which it is alleged that the practitioner’s fitness to practise is impaired; | (b) | stating the date, time and place at which the hearing will be held; and | (c) | inviting the practitioner to state whether the practitioner proposes to attend the hearing, and inform the practitioner that the practitioner may be represented by counsel and may be accompanied by the practitioner’s medical adviser. |
(2) Except with the agreement of the practitioner, the date fixed for the hearing must not be earlier than 28 days after the date of the notice of hearing mentioned in paragraph (1). |
(3) Where the practitioner has informed the Health Committee that the practitioner has nominated one or more registered medical practitioners under regulation 49(1)(b)(i), the notice of hearing mentioned in paragraph (1) must not be sent earlier than 60 days after the date of the notice of inquiry mentioned in regulation 49(1). |
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53.—(1) The Health Committee may, upon the application of any party, order the other party (A) to produce a document in A’s possession or control that is relevant to any matter before the Health Committee.(2) Without affecting section 51(3) of the Act, paragraph (1) does not apply to, or in relation to, the following documents:(a) | any report from an Inquiry Committee or a Complaints Committee to the Medical Council prepared in relation to an investigation or inquiry commenced under Part 7 of the Act or any document containing the internal deliberations of the Inquiry Committee or Complaints Committee in the preparation of the report; | (b) | any correspondence between an Inquiry Committee or a Complaints Committee and an investigator exchanged in relation to an investigation directed under section 43(3)(b)(ii) or (c) or 45(7)(b) of the Act; | (c) | a document supplied by a public authority to the Medical Council or any Inquiry Committee or Complaints Committee, in respect of which disclosure would be, in the opinion of the public authority, contrary to the public interest. |
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Requests for confidential treatment |
54.—(1) A request for the confidential treatment of a document, part of a document, or information, produced or given for the purposes of an inquiry before a Health Committee must —(a) | be made to the Health Committee in writing by the party who produced the document or gave the information, when producing the document or giving the information; | (b) | where the request relates to part of a document, state the relevant words, figures or passages for which confidentiality is claimed; and | (c) | contain the reasons for the request for withholding the document or information from any party and, where the request relates to part of a document, the reasons specific to each such part. |
(2) The party making the request must also submit to the Health Committee, if the person considers it possible to summarise or redact the material in the document, part of the document, or information, a non‑confidential version of the document, part of the document or information (as the case may be) in a form that can be given to any party. |
(3) A request for confidential treatment must not be considered if the request does not comply with paragraph (1), unless the Health Committee considers that the circumstances are exceptional. |
(4) The Health Committee may grant the confidential treatment requested on any condition the Health Committee thinks fit (including changes to the summary or redacting of material in any non‑confidential version under paragraph (2)), if the Health Committee is satisfied that the document, part of the document, or information contains, or is, in the Health Committee’s opinion —(a) | information the disclosure of which would be contrary to the public interest; | (b) | commercial information the disclosure of which may significantly harm the legitimate business interests of the undertaking to which it relates; or | (c) | information relating to the private affairs of an individual the disclosure of which would or may significantly harm the interests of that individual. |
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(5) In the event of a dispute as to whether the confidential treatment should be granted, the Health Committee must decide the matter after considering oral or written submissions from the parties, taking into account the matters referred to in paragraph (4). |
(6) If the Health Committee grants the confidential treatment, the party making the request for the confidential treatment must, no later than 5 working days after the Health Committee’s decision —(a) | in the case where the grant is subject to changes to the summary or redacting of material in any non‑confidential version filed under paragraph (2) —(i) | make the necessary changes or redactions; | (ii) | submit the revised non‑confidential version to the Health Committee; and | (iii) | send the revised non‑confidential version to the other party or parties, as the case may be; and |
| (b) | in any other case, send to the other party or parties the non‑confidential version submitted under paragraph (2), if any, |
and notify the other party or parties that the document, part of the document, or information has been summarised or redacted. |
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(7) The Health Committee must not, for the purpose of making any finding under section 59I(1) of the Act, rely on any document, part of a document, or information to which confidential treatment is granted, but may rely on the non‑confidential version submitted (if any) under paragraph (2) or (6)(a), as the case may be. |
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Preparation of agreed documents |
54A. All the parties must, no later than 5 days before the date fixed for the commencement of the hearing (called in this Part the first hearing date), jointly prepare an agreed bundle of documents, comprising every document or exhibit in respect of which parties are agreed as to authenticity. |
54B.—(1) Subject to section 59A(10) and (11) of the Act (read with section 59I(10) of the Act), a Health Committee may, on its own motion or upon the application of any party, postpone a hearing at any time.(2) An application for the postponement of a hearing must be made in writing to the chairman of the Health Committee no later than 21 days before the first hearing date, unless the Health Committee allows the application to be made in a shorter period before the commencement of the hearing, and must be supported by good reasons. |
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54C.—(1) The hearing of an inquiry by the Health Committee is to be held in private.(2) A Health Committee may, during any hearing —(a) | give such directions for the proceedings of the hearing as the Health Committee thinks fit; | (b) | conduct the proceedings in such manner as the Health Committee thinks fit; | (c) | enquire into any matter which the Health Committee may consider relevant to the proceedings (whether or not such matter has been raised by a party); | (d) | where any party does not appear at the hearing and the Health Committee is satisfied that regulation 49(1) is complied with — proceed with the hearing in the absence of that party and make such orders as the Health Committee thinks fit; and | (e) | subject to section 59A(10) and (11) of the Act (read with section 59I(10) of the Act), adjourn the hearing to a later date. |
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(3) The directions which a Health Committee may give under paragraph (2)(a) include directions on one or more of the following matters:(a) | the giving of evidence orally or by written statement; | (b) | the time limited for giving oral testimony; | (c) | the time limited for oral arguments; | (d) | the length of any written submissions; | (e) | where appropriate, the giving of evidence through a live video or live television link, having regard to the considerations in section 62A of the Evidence Act 1893. |
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Reference to documents where no relevant witness is called |
54D.—(1) The Health Committee may, at any stage in the proceedings, refer to any written statement or medical reference material in respect of which no relevant witness is called, if —(a) | the practitioner consents to the reference; or | (b) | the Health Committee is satisfied that the reception of the written statement or medical reference material is desirable to enable the Health Committee to perform its duty or discharge its functions. |
(2) A copy of the written statement or medical reference material referred to in paragraph (1) must be made available to all the parties. |
(3) Where, despite the reference of any written statement or medical reference material by the Health Committee under paragraph (1), the Health Committee is of the opinion that it should be supplemented by oral testimony —(a) | the Health Committee may request that a relevant witness be called as a witness and adjourn the hearing for the purpose; and | (b) | on subsequently resuming the hearing, unless the relevant witness gives oral evidence, the Health Committee may disregard the written statement or medical reference material. |
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(4) In this regulation, “relevant witness”, in relation to —(a) | any written statement — means the author of the statement; and | (b) | any medical reference material — means a medical expert witness.”. |
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