§ 48. Lieut. - Commander KENW0RTHYasked the Prime Minister if the Lord 968 President of the Privy Council has been approached by any section of the medical profession with regard to the constitution of the General Medical Council; and what steps, if any, he has taken or proposes to take in this matter?
§ Major HENNESSY (Vice-Chamberlain of the Household)The reply to the first part of the question is in the negative, and my Noble Friend, the Lord President of the Council, considers that the case for action as suggested in the second part, does not, therefore, arise.
§ Lieut. - Commander KENWORTHYMay I ask the hon. and gallant Gentleman if he is going in reply in future for the Lord President of the Council?
§ Major HENNESSYAs far as I know, I am.
§ 50. Mr. B. PETOasked the Prime Minister whether he will consider the necessity of amending Sections 26, 28, and 29 of the Medical Act of 1858, in view of the obscurity of the procedure under the Act and the confusion of the powers of examining colleges and bodies and the Genera] Medical Council, whereby persons whose names have been removed from the register are required by the General Medical Council to prove that they possess degrees of which they have been deprived, in consequence of the General Medical Council having removed them from the register, before their names can be restored to the register?
§ Major HENNESSYI am asked by my Noble Friend the Lord President of the Council to state that he is informed that there is no difficulty in interpreting the Sections of the Act of 1858, to which my hon. Friend refers. It must be remembered that the Genera] Medical Council cannot confer medical degrees or qualifications, not can it annul such when once conferred. Moreover, it cannot place a man on the register unless he possesses a degree or qualification. When, therefore, a practitioner has been deprived of his degree or qualification by the body which originally conferred it, that body must restore it before the General Medical Council can reverse its own previous decision.
§ Mr. PETOWhen the General Medical Council remove any person from the 969 register for the reasons given in Section 29, do the colleges or other examining bodies automatically remove that person's degrees, and, if so, how can that person get on the register again, unless the original examining body moves in the matter?
§ Major HENNESSYI am afraid I must have notice of that question.
§ Colonel WOODCOCKIs the hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that the General Medical Council act as prosecutor and judge?