Bill.

ARRANGEMENT OF CLAUSES.

Clause.

1. Registration of nursing homes.

2. Cancellation of registration.

3. Notice of refusal or of cancellation of registration. 4. Byelaws.

5. Inspection of nursing homes.

6. Power to exempt certain institutions.

7. Penalty for offences against Act and provision as to offences by companies.

8. Local supervising authority.

9. Interpretation.

10. Short title, extent, repeal and commencement. SCHEDULE.

I

A

BILL

ΤΟ

Provide for the registration and inspection of A.D. 1927. nursing homes, and for purposes connected

therewith.

B

E it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, 5 as follows :-

homes.

1. (1) If any person carries on a nursing home Registrawithout being duly registered in respect thereof, he shall be tion of guilty of an offence against this Act and shall in respect nursing of each such offence be liable on summary conviction to 10 a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, in the case of a second or subsequent offence, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to both such imprisonment and fine.

15

(2) Application for registration shall be made to the local supervising authority in writing in the form prescribed by the Minister of Health, and shall be accompanied by a fee of five shillings.

(3) Subject as provided in this Act, the local super20 vising authority shall, on the receipt of an application for registration, register the applicant in respect of the nursing home named in the application and issue to him a certificate of registration:

A.D. 1927.

Provided that the authority may refuse to register the applicant if they are satisfied

(a) that he or any person employed by him at the
home is not a fit person, whether by reason of
age or otherwise, to carry on or to be employed 5
at a nursing home of such a description as the
nursing home named in the application; or
(b) that for reasons connected with situation, con-
struction, accommodation, staffing or equip-
ment, the home or any premises used in con- 10
nection therewith are not fit to be used for
a nursing home of such a description as the
nursing home named in the application, or that
the home or premises are used or to be used
for purposes which are in any way improper or 15
undesirable in the case of such a nursing
home; or

(c) in the case of a nursing home (other than a
maternity home) which was not in existence at
the commencement of this Act, that the home 20
is not under the charge of a person who is
either a duly qualified medical practitioner or a
qualified nurse and who is resident in the home,
or that there is not a proper proportion of
qualified nurses among the persons having the 25
superintendence of or employed in the nursing
of the patients in the home; or

(d) in the case of a nursing home (other than a
maternity home) which was in existence at the
commencement of this Act, that the nursing 30
of the patients in the home is not under the
superintendence of a qualified nurse who is
resident in the home; or

(e) in the case of a maternity home which was not
in existence at the commencement of this Act, 35
that the person having the superintendence of
the nursing of the patients in the home is not
either a qualified nurse or a certified midwife,
or that any person employed in attending any
woman in the home in childbirth or in nursing 40
any such woman after childbirth is not either a
certified midwife, a pupil midwife or a qualified

nurse.

(4) The certificate of registration issued in respect of a nursing home shall be kept affixed in a conspicuous 45

place in the home, and if default is made in complying A.D. 1927. with the foregoing requirement the person carrying on the home shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.

2. Subject as provided in this Act, a local supervising Cancella5 authority may at any time cancel the registration of a tion of reperson in respect of any nursing home on any ground gistration. which would entitle them to refuse an application for the registration of that person in respect of that home, or on the ground that that person has been convicted of an 10 offence against this Act or that any other person has been convicted of such an offence in respect of that home.

3.-(1) Before making an order refusing an appli- Notice of cation for registration or an order cancelling any regis- refusal or of tration the local supervising authority shall give to the cancellation of registra15 applicant or to the person registered, as the case may be, tion. not less than fourteen days' notice of their intention to make such an order, and every such notice shall state the grounds on which the authority intend to make the. order and shall contain an intimation that, if within four20 teen days after the receipt of the notice the applicant or person registered informs the authority in writing that he desires so to do, the authority will, before making the order, give him (in person or by a representative) an opportunity of showing cause why the order should 25 not be made.

(2) If the authority, after giving the applicant or the person registered (if under the provisions of the preceding subsection he is entitled so to do) an opportunity of showing cause as aforesaid, decide to refuse the appli30 cation for registration or to cancel the registration, they shall make an order to that effect and shall send a copy of the order to the applicant or the person registered.

(3) Any person aggrieved by an order refusing an 35 application for registration or cancelling any registration may, within fourteen days after the date on which it was made, appeal against it to a court of summary jurisdiction, and the appellant or the local supervising authority, if aggrieved by the order made by a court 40 of summary jurisdiction on any such appeal, may appeal against that order to a court of quarter sessions in manner prescribed by the Summary Jurisdiction Acts.