HL Deb 12 May 1983 vol 442 cc613-21

6.10 p.m.

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, I beg to move that the Commons amendments be now considered.

Moved, That the Commons Amendments be now considered.—(Lord Trefgarne.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

COMMONS AMENDMENTS

[References are to Bill [90] as first printed for the Commons]

1 Clause 1, page 1, line 13, leave out from "the" to end of line 12 on page 2 and insert "words 'eighteen members' there shall be substituted the words 'the President and twenty-nine other members'. (2A) For paragraph 2(2) there shall be substituted— '(2A of the said twenty-nine members of the Council—

  1. (a) eighteen shall be elected by registered dentists from among themselves;
  2. (b) four shall be the persons who are for the time being the chief dental officers of each of the Department of Health and Social Security, the Welsh Office and the Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland and the chief dental officer to the Secretary of State for Scotland;
  3. (c) six, who shall not be registered dentists and of whom three shall be chosen for England and one for each of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, shall be nominated by Her Majesty on the advice of Her Privy Council;
  4. (d) one shall be elected in accordance with paragraph 14(9) of Part II of this Schedule;
and of the remaining members, all of whom shall be registered dentists, the University of London (so long as it is a dental authority) shall nominate two, and every other authority which is for the time being a dental authority shall nominate one.'.

2 Clause 1, page 2, line 16, at end insert— (4A) In paragraph 3(3) (under which, of the eleven elected members, seven are to be elected in England, the Isle of Man and Channel Islands), for the words 'eleven' and 'seven' there shall be substituted the words 'eighteen' and 'fourteen' respectively. (4B) For paragraph 5 there shall be substituted— '5.—(1) The General Council shall elect a registered dentist as President from among the persons who are for the time being members of the Council. (2) If the President when he takes office is an elected or nominated member of the Council he shall thereupon cease to be such a member, and the Council shall accordingly take the appropriate steps to fill the vacancy so created. (3) The period for which the President shall hold office shall be the period for which a nominated member of the Council taking office at the same time as the President would hold office.'.

3 Clause 2, leave out Clause 2.

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 1, 2 and 3 en bloc. I should like to speak at the same time to Amendments Nos. 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 22 to 27 inclusive, 29, 31 to 33 inclusive and 35 to 45. I must mention at the outset that there are several printing errors in the list of Commons amendments before your Lordships today. In particular, I would refer to: page 5, Amendment No. 16, fifth line of subsection (3) of the new clause, after "subsection", a line has been missed out which should read "a person may be represented before the Committee by counsel or a solicitor"; page 7, Amendment No. 22, subsection (4) of the new clause, third line, "and appointment" should read "an appointment"; page 8, Amendment No. 28, penultimate line of paragraph (1) of the new clause "a fine or not exceeding" should read "a fine not exceeding": and, finally, on page 9, Amendment No. 38, the reference to "Page 17" should be to "Page 19". There are also a number of small typographical errors which, perhaps, do not need to be specifically corrected and with which I do not need to bother your Lordships in considering the amendments.

It may be helpful if I briefly summarise the purpose of the Commons Amendments which we are considering. The first group, whose numbers I have given to your Lordships, relates to the constitution of the General Dental Council and of its subordinate committees. Three significant changes are proposed to the composition of the Council itself. In lieu of the three dentists currently nominated by Her Majesty, it is proposed to provide five ex-officio members; namely the president of the GDC and the four chief dental officers of the United Kingdom health departments. This, in practice, will allow the chief dental officers for Wales and Northern Ireland to sit on the GDC for the first time. Lay membership on the council will be increased from three to six, to preserve the proportions in the 1957 Act against the overall increase in the size of the council proposed by the Bill. In addition, an elected dental auxiliary will be given a place on the council in recognition of the GDC's responsibilities for dental therapists and dental hygienists.

Proposals for the subordinate committees include increasing the number of elected dental auxiliaries on the Dental Auxiliaries Committee from three to six, setting an upper limit of 10 on the number of council members (other than the president) of that sub-committee, and renaming the Disciplinary Committee as the Professional Conduct Committee in keeping with the nomenclature of its GMC counterpart. The Government believe that all these proposals will assist the GDC in carrying out its duties and I commend them to your Lordships. I beg to move.

Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said amendments.—(Lord Trefgarne.)

Lord Winstanley

My Lords, I have no wish at this eleventh hour to resist these amendments or, indeed, any of the subsequent amendments to this Bill. They seem to me to be entirely satisfactory. I rise merely to say that the noble Lord, Lord Trefgarne, at earlier stages of our consideration of this Bill, reminded your Lordships' House that we have a Dentists Bill approximately every 30 years. We had one in 1921; I think we had one in 1951 and we have another now. In those circumstances, I merely rise to say that it seems to me faintly regrettable, that having dealt with this 30 years' period Dentists Bill, we have had to deal with its final stages in somewhat indecent haste, I make no criticism of anybody for that. I merely say that perhaps we might have had an opportunity to consider some of these matters in a little more detail than we can now do. Perhaps it will be helpful if I indicate, as one who was interested in this Bill at the earlier stages, that I have no objection to the amendments which are now tabled.

On Question, Motion agreed to.

COMMONS AMENDMENT

After Clause 6, insert the following new clause:—

"Notification of reasons for refusal of application for registration etc.

4 Where the registrar refuses—

  1. (a) an application for registration in the dentists register under section 2, 2A or 12 of the principal Act.
  2. (b) an application for a direction to be given under section 13 of that Act, or
  3. (c) an application to be restored to the register under section 18(2) or 21(4) of that Act,
he shall notify the applicant of his reasons for refusing the application; and any such notification may be sent by post.".

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 4. Amendment No. 4 is the first of the second group of amendments that I seek to commend to your Lordships, which is minor in character. Their main effect is to lay new requirements on the keeping of the dentists register and on the registrar. My Lords, I beg to move.

Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said amendment.—(Lord Trefgarne.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

COMMONS AMENDMENTS

5 Clause 9, page 5, line 11, leave out subsection (4).

6 After Clause 10, insert the following new Clause:—

"Constitution of Education Committee.

In paragraph 10(1) of Schedule 1 to the principal Act (Education Committee to consist of the President and eight other members of the Council who are registered dentists and certain nominated members) before the word 'eight' there shall be inserted the words 'at least'.".

7 Clause 11, page 6, line 2, after "Act", insert "(prescription of titles which may be used by practitioners in special and distinctive branches of dentistry)"

8 Clause 11, page 6, line 4, leave out from "After" to "there" in line 5 and insert "the said section 15(3)".

9 Clause 11, page 6, line 16, at end insert— (3B) The Council shall cause a correct copy of any list for the time being kept by them in pursuance of subsection (3A) of this section to be appended to any copy of the dentists register printed, published and sold in accordance with section 20 of this Act.

10 Before Clause 13, insert the following new Clause:—

"Professional Conduct Committee.

.—(1) The Disciplinary Committee constituted under paragraph 12 of Schedule 1 to the principal Act shall be known instead as the Professional Conduct Committee.

(2) Accordingly in any enactment or instrument passed or made before the commencement of subsection (1) above for any reference to the Disciplinary Committee there shall be substituted a reference to the Professional Conduct Committee.

(3) In the said paragraph 12—

  1. (a) in sub-paragraph (1) (Committee to consist of the President and ten other members of the Council of whom at least four must be elected members) for the word 'four' there shall be substituted the word 'five'; and
  2. (b) for sub-paragraph (5) there shall be substituted—
'(5) The quorum for a meeting of the Professional Conduct Committee shall be seven, of whom at least two shall be elected members of the Council and at least one shall be neither an elected member of the Council nor a registered dentist.'.".

11 Clause 13, page 6, line 41, leave out "Disciplinary" and insert "Professional Conduct".

12 Clause 13, page 7, line 17, leave out "Disciplinary" and insert "Professional Conduct".

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their amendments Nos. 5 to 12.

Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said amendments.—(Lord Trefgarne.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

COMMONS AMENDMENT

13 Page 7, line 29, leave out from "when" to end of line 32 and insert "the period for bringing an appeal against the said determination under section 29 of this Act expires or, if such an appeal is brought, the appeal is determined or withdrawn or is struck out for want of prosecution.".

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 13. This is the first of the third group of amendments which I am seeking to commend to your Lordships. The group is this amendment, No. 13, and Nos. 16 to 19 inclusive, 20, 21, 30 and 34. This group relates to disciplinary matters and of these the most important is No. 16 which contains a new power to enable the GDC to suspend a dentist prior to a full hearing by the Professional Conduct Committee where this is considered necessary to protect the public. The Government are convinced, in the light of a recent case to which we referred in earlier debates on this Bill, that such a power is needed, although we do, of course, expect that it will need to be used only rarely. The remaining amendments in this group are essentially clarificatory or consequential. My Lords, I beg to move.

Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said amendment.—(Lord Trefgarne.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

COMMONS AMENDMENTS

14 Page 7, line 33, leave out "Disciplinary" and insert "Professional Conduct".

15 Page 8, line 23, leave out "Disciplinary" and insert "Professional Conduct".

16 After Clause 13 insert the following new Clause—

"Interim suspension orders.

—(1) Where the Preliminary Proceedings Committee ('the Committee')—

  1. (a) decide that the case of a person who is alleged to have been convicted as mentioned in section 25(1) of the principal Act (grounds for erasure or suspension), or to have been guilty of any such misconduct as is there mentioned, ought to be referred to the Professional Conduct Committee under section 26 of that Act (disciplinary cases), and
  2. (b) are satisfied that it is necessary for the protection of members of the public to make an order under this section in respect of that person,
they may order that his registration in the register shall be suspended in accordance with the following provisions of this section pending the determination of his case by the Professional Conduct Committee.

(2) The Committee may make any such order notwithstanding—

  1. (a) in the case of a person alleged to have been convicted as aforesaid, that any proceedings by way of appeal are pending in respect of the conviction in question; or
  2. (b) in the case of a person alleged to have been guilty of any such misconduct as aforesaid, that any criminal charge has been, or might be, brought in respect of the alleged misconduct.

(3) No order shall be made under this section in respect of a person unless he has been afforded an opportunity of appearing before the Committee and of being heard on the question whether such an order should be made in his case; and for the purposes of this subsection, a person may be represented before the Committee by counsel or a solicitor or (if rules under paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 to the principal Act so provide and he so elects) by a person of such other description as may be specified in the rules.

(4) Where the Committee make an order under this section the registrar shall forthwith serve on the person to whom it applies a notification of the order and of his right to make an application for the termination of the order under subsection (8) below; and the registration of that person in the register shall be suspended by virtue of this section from the time when the notification is so served until such time as the order is revoked under subsection (5) or (6) below.

(5) Any order under this section shall be reviewed by the Committee not later than three months after the date of its making and subsequently at intervals of not more than three months; and where the Committee on any such review are satisfied that the continuation in force of the order is not necessary for the protection of members of the public they shall revoke the order.

(6) Where the case of a person to whom an order under this section applies is determined by the Professional Conduct Committee under section 26 of the principal Act, the Professional Conduct Committee shall revoke the order either forthwith or, if they make an order for immediate suspension taking effect under section 29A(3) of that Act, as from the time when that order so takes effect.

(7) Where an order under this section is revoked under subsection (5) or (6) above the registrar shall forthwith serve on the person concerned a notification of the revocation of the order.

(8) Any notification required to be served on a person by the registrar under this section may be served in the same manner as a notification under section 26(4) of the principal Act; and subsections (4) and (5) of section 29A of that Act (application to court for termination of order under that section) and section 30A of that Act (effect of suspension of registration) shall have effect in relation to an order under this section as they have effect in relation to an order of the Professional Conduct Committee under the said section 29A.

(9) The Council shall report to the Dental Board of the Republic of Ireland every case in which an order is made under this section in respect of a person registered in the dental register of the Republic of Ireland.".

17 Clause 17, page 11, line 3, leave out "then (subject to subsection (3) below.".

18 Clause 17, page 11, line 6, leave out "subsection (3) and ".

19 Clause 17, page 11, line 18, leave out from second "when"to end of line 21 and insert "the period for bringing an appeal against the said direction under section 16 above expires or, if such an appeal is brought, the appeal is determined or withdrawn or is struck out for want of prosecution".

20 Clause 18, page 12, leave out lines 9 to 12 and insert—

  1. "(a) the period for bringing an appeal against the direction under section 16 above expires; or
  2. (b) if such an appeal is brought, the appeal is determined of withdrawn or is struck out for want of prosecution".

21 Clause 21 page 13, line 33, leave out "Part III of the Dentists Act 1983" and insert "section (Interim suspension orders) of the Dentists Act 1983 (interim suspension orders) or under Part III of that Act".

22 Clause 23, page 14, line 23, leave out subsection (3) and insert— (3) For paragraph 14 of Schedule Ito the principal Act there shall be substituted— '14.—(1) The Dental Auxiliaries Committee shall consist of—

  1. (a) the President;
  2. (b) at least eight (but not more than ten) other members of the Council, being either elected or nominated members or persons within paragraph 2(2)(b) of Part I of this Schedule; and
  3. (c) nine persons not within paragraph (a) or (b) of this sub-paragraph.

(2) At least two of the members referred to in subparagraph (1)(b) of this paragraph shall not be registered dentists.

(3) Three of the nine members referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(c) of this paragraph shall be appointed by the Secretaries of State respectively concerned with health in England and Wales and Scotland and the head of the Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland acting jointly, and two of the three so appointed shall be registered dentists who are or have been employed in the course of the provision of national health services.

(4) The three members so appointed and their successors shall retire together at the end of successive three year periods, and an appointment made in the course of one of those periods to fill a casual vacancy shall be for the remainder of that period.

(5) The other six of the members referred to in subparagraph (1)(c) of this paragraph shall he elected by members of all the classes of dental auxiliaries established by regulations under this Act in such manner and at such intervals as may be provided by rules made by the Council.

(6) The Council shall pay to members of the Committee who are not members of the Council allowances and fees at the same rates as in the case of those who are members of the Council.

(7) The chairman of the Committee shall be chosen by the Committee from among the members of the Committee who are registered dentists.

(8) The Committee may appoint a sub-committee, which shall consist of not more than nine members, to deal with disciplinary questions connected with members of a class of dental auxiliaries.

(9) The member of the Council referred to in paragraph 2(2)(d) of Part I of this Schedule shall he elected by the Committee from among its members who have been elected under sub-paragraph (5) of this paragraph; and a person so elected shall cease to be a member of the Council if he ceases to be a member of the Committee or when the term of office of elected members of the Council next expires in accordance with paragraph 3(1) of the said Part I. whichever first occurs.'.".

23 Clause 25, Page 15, line 12, leave out "Disciplinary" and insert "Professional Conduct".

24 Clause 25, Page 15, line 18, leave out "Disciplinary" and insert "Professional Conduct"

25 Clause 27, page 16, line 17, leave out "Disciplinary" and insert "Professional Conduct".

Clause 27, page 16, line 20, leave out "words 'the

26 Disciplinary Committee'"and insert "word 'Committee' in the first place where it occurs".

27 Clause 27, page 16, line 32, leave out "Disciplinary" and insert "Professional Conduct".

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 14 to 27.

Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said amendments.—(Lord Trefgarne.)

Lord Colwyn

My Lords, may I just detain your Lordships for 60 seconds on Amendment No. 16? In my understanding, this amendment relates directly to the recent problems within the profession concerning the administration of anaesthesia and anaesthetics. I appreciate the concern of the Government, and the concern of the honourable Member for Lichfield and Tamworth, Mr. Heddle, whose representations, which I believe to be misguided and founded on reaction to the popular press rather than to scientific facts, have pressurised the General Dental Council via the Department of Health and Social Security into producing guidelines for the profession as to the use and administration of anaesthetic drugs.

I have to declare an interest in that these guidelines directly affect my own practice, where my partner and I specialise in the treatment of patients who have a genuine fear of dentists. By being forced to take this step, the GDC are for the first time entering the political field, which I hope is not a sign of things to come. They do not need, nor require, any powers that can directly influence professional judgments as to the appropriate methods of treatment for different patients.

I am also very concerned at the possible wide applications of this new clause, which may mean that the General Dental Council will have to take action when dentists are convicted of other criminal offences. The clause will surely give them a power far greater than the original intention of the amendment. I do not expect explanations from the Minister, but I wish at this stage just to have my doubts on this matter placed on the record. I assure the Government that I shall be keeping a very careful watch on the way in which this clause in the Bill is implemented when it becomes law. If necessary, at a later stage, I shall use whatever powers are at my disposal to try to correct what I believe to be a very serious defect.

Baroness Gardner of Parkes

My Lords, I, too, should like to comment briefly on Amendment No. 16. I welcome this part of the Bill, in so far as it is necessary to have the right of immediate suspension in cases where the public might genuinely be considered to be at risk, pending the hearing of a criminal case. I seek an assurance from the Minister that the practice of any general dental practitioner who is suspended prior to any hearing would be protected and that he would not lose in any way if later he was found to be not guilty of the charges and not deserving of any disciplinary action.

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, I believe that my noble friend raised this point at an earlier stage of the Bill. I gave her certain assurances then, which I hope on reflection she will regard as satisfactory.

On Question, Motion agreed to.

COMMONS AMENDMENT

28 After Clause 27, insert the following new Clause:

"Assimiliation of penalties in Northern Ireland with penalties in England, Wales and Scotland

.—(1) Each of the following provisions of the principal Act, namely—

  1. (a) subsection (1) of section 34 (prohibition on practice of dentistry by laymen),
  2. (b) subsection (2) of section 35 (prohibition on use of practitioners' titles by laymen), and
  3. (c) subsection (l) of section 37 (restriction on individuals carrying on business of dentistry),
shall have effect in Northern Ireland as if for paragraphs (a) and (b) thereof there were substituted the words 'on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the fifth level on the standard scale'.

(2) Each of the following provisions of the principal Act, namely—

  1. (a) subsections (2) and (4) of section 15 (restrictions on use of titles and descriptions by registered dentists),
  2. (b) subsection (1) of section 38 (restrictions on bodies corporate carrying on the business of dentistry), and
  3. (c) subsections (4) and (5) of section 41 (penalties for improper use of titles and descriptions by dental auxiliaries and other persons),
shall have effect in Northern Ireland as if for the reference to a fine not exceeding the amount there mentioned there were substituted a reference to a fine not exceeding the third level on the standard scale.

(3) In this section 'the standard scale' has the meaning given by section 37 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982, and for the purposes of this section—

  1. (a) the said section 37, and
  2. (b) an order under section 143 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 which alters the sums specified in subsection (2) of the said section 37,
shall extend to Northern Ireland.".

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 28. I shall also speak to Amendment No. 46. These amendments are to bring the financial penalties under the 1957 Act for Northern Ireland into line with those for England, Scotland and Wales. It is obviously a sensible amendment.

Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said amendment.—(Lord Trefgarne.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

COMMONS AMENDMENTS

29 Clause 30, page 17, line 21, after "section", insert "(Constitution of Education Committee), (Professional Conduct Committee),".

30 Clause 30, page 17, line 21, at end insert "and section. (Interim suspension orders)".

31 Clause 30, page 17, line 24, leave out "11" and insert "10, 11(6)".

32 Clause 30, page 17, line 24, leave out ", 24 and 25)" and insert "and 24".

33 Clause 30, page 17, line 33, leave out "(4), 2," and insert "(4B), (Constitution of Education Committee), (Professional Conduct Committee),".

34 Clause 30, page 17, line 33, after "13", insert "and section (Interim suspension orders) and sections".

35 Clause 30, page 17, line 34, after "paragraphs", insert "2, 11(a)".

36 Clause 30, page 18, line 1, leave out "paragraphs 2 and" and insert "paragraph".

37 In the Schedules, Schedule 1, page 19, line 8, leave out "Disciplinary" and insert "Professional Conduct".

38 Page 19, line 24, leave out "Disciplinary" and insert "Professional Conduct".

39 Schedule 2, page 22, line 39, leave out "(4)" and insert—

  1. "(a) in subsection (1) for the words from the beginning to 'which' substitute 'The Preliminary Proceedings Committee and the Professional Conduct Committee of the General Dental Council': and
  2. (b) in subsection (4)".

40 Schedule 2, page 23, line 8, leave out "Disciplinary" and insert "Professional Conduct".

41 Schedule 2, page 23, line 11, leave out "Disciplinary" and insert Professional Conduct".

42 Schedule 2, page 23, page 24, line 24, leave out paragraph 25.

43 Schedule 3, page 25, line 38, column 3, leave out from "onwards" to end of line 42 and insert "and paragraph 13".

44 Schedule 4, page 26, line 10, leave out paragraph 1 and insert—

  1. "1.—(1) For the purposes of enabling—
    1. (a) the President of the Council to take office, and
    2. (b) the Council and the Dental Auxiliaries Committee to be duly constituted in accordance with sections 1(2) to (4A) and 23(3) of this Act,
at the commencement of those provisions the appropriate elections or nominations shall be held or made before that commencement.

(2) Rules under paragraph 3(4) of Schedule 1 to the principal Act shall, with the necessary modifications, apply to the election of members held by the Council for the purposes of this paragraph as they apply to an election to fill a casual vacancy; and any election held for those purposes—

  1. (a) by the Council to elect the President, or
    2. 621
  2. (b) by the Dental Auxiliaries Committee to elect a member of the Council.
shall be held in the like manner as if section 1(4B) or (as the case may be) section 23(3) of this Act were then in force.".

45 Schedule 3, page 23, line 37, leave out sub-paragraph (1) and insert— (1) Section (Professional Conduct Committee) of this Act shall not affect the hearing and determination of any case or other matter referred to the Disciplinary Committee before the commencement of that section.".

46 Schedule 3, page 27, line 26, at end add—

"Penalties for offences in Northern Ireland

7. Nothing in section (Assimilation of penalties in Northern Ireland with penalties in England, Wales and Scotland) of this Act shall affect the punishment for an offence committed before the commencement of that section.".

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 29 to 46.

Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said amendments.—(Lord Trefgarne.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.