PROFESSIONS SUPPLEMENTARY TO MEDICINE (ORTHOPTISTS BOARD) ORDER OF COUNCIL 1966 (Hansard, 19 July 1966)

§ BARONESS PHILLIPS
My Lords, I beg to move that the Draft Professions Supplementary to Medicine (Orthoptists Board) Order of Council 1966, laid before the House on June 28, 1966, be approved. Its purpose is to bring orthoptists in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland within the provisions of the Professions Supplementary to Medicine Act 1960. It is introduced by a Health Ministry spokesman, as the Bill was introduced by the Minister of Health. An orthoptist undertakes the diagnosis and treatment of squints and other eye conditions under the direction of an 370 ophthalmic surgeon or medical practitioner. The Order affects some 400 orthoptists, most of them women, and most of whom work with children in hospitals and local authority child welfare and school health clinics.
As the Order will, in effect, extend the Professions Supplementary to Medicine Act to the orthoptists, may I remind your Lordships of the objects and main provisions of this Act which carried out a recommendation in the Reports of the Committee on Medical Auxiliaries, known as the Cope Committee, that State registration was the best means of securing uniformly adequate standards of qualification for members of the professions employed in the National Health Service. It introduced State registration for seven professions—chiropodists, dieticians, medical laboratory technicians, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, radiographers and remedial gymnasts—and established a registration board for each of these under the general supervision of the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine. It is the duty of the boards to establish registers, and to approve courses of training and qualifications for registration. The Act also imposes a general duty on them to promote high standards of professional education and professional conduct among members of the relevant professions. Although the Act was passed in 1960, it took some time to set up the boards and to establish their machinery. The last sections of it were not brought into force until June, 1964, but both boards and Council are well established and their contribution to the professions is already being felt. I am glad to say that the numbers registered have exceeded expectations.
Now for the Order itself. Section 10 of the Act provides for the extension to new professions, up to a maximum of twelve. The requirements of the Act have been satisfied, and the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine consider that the profession of orthoptics is a profession supplementary to medicine; that it has reached maturity; that it already has a satisfactory code of training, qualification and professional conduct. The Privy Council have accepted the recommendation, and the Health Department are in agreement with it. In 371 fact, it is largely an historical accident that the orthoptists were not included in the recommendations of the Cope Committee and so were not covered by the Act when it was passed. They have long been treated by the Health Department as if they were a profession supplementary to medicine.
The Order itself is short and simple. Paragraph 1 provides that the Act shall have effect as if orthoptists were mentioned under Section 1 of the Act; and paragraph 2 gives the title and the day of coming into operation of the Order. The Schedule sets out the composition of the Orthoptists Board and the changes necessary to provide an extra representative and medical member for the Council. It also lists certain minor amendments consequent on the addition of the orthoptists to the Act. Extensive consultations were undertaken on both the principle and the drafting of the Order, and the views of numerous medical and optical organisations as well as those of other Government Departments were sought. Happily, a wide measure of agreement has been achieved, but the consultations took a considerable time, and in so far as this may have tried the patience of those closely affected by the Order, I can only apologise to them and assure them that the time was not wasted and that the ground has been well prepared.
There is only one other matter which needs to be mentioned. If there are other points which occur to noble Lords, I will endeavour to answer them later. The Act does not prevent the employment of unregistered persons in the National Health Service or elsewhere, but the Minister of Health and the Secretary of State for Scotland have made regulations which make State registration a condition of employment in the National Health Service for the seven professions already covered by the Act. A similar provision in respect of orthoptists will need to be considered later, but it will not be introduced without further consultation with the interested parties. Approval of this Order will confer upon a small but important profession, mainly women, the benefits of State registration under the Professions Supplementary to Medicine Act, and I accordingly recommend that it should be given. My Lords, I beg to move.

§ LORD DRUMALBYN
My Lords, may I ask the noble Lady one question? Does the Order mean that people will not be able to describe themselves as orthoptists unless they are registered, or that they will not be able to describe themselves as registered orthoptists? She will know that a good deal of difficulty has arisen with others registered under this Act, and it would be very useful to know whether the confusion which has arisen in the past could be avoided in this case.

§ BARONESS PHILLIPS
My Lords, I cannot give a direct reply. They are, of course, already subject to their own private registration. This has been carried over into the Order. If the noble Lord would like me to do so, I will find out the answer for him and let him know.