Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005

Complaints about conduct or competence of registrants.

52

52.—(1) A complaint may be made to the Council concerning a registrant on the grounds of—

(a) professional misconduct,

(b) poor professional performance,

F90[(c) a relevant medical disability,]

(d) a failure to comply with a term or condition of registration imposed under F91[this Act],

(e) a failure to comply with an undertaking or to take any action specified in a consent given in response to a request under section 61,

F92[(ea) the imposition on the registrant of—

(i) a prohibition against him or her providing one or more than one kind of health or social care in the State or another jurisdiction, or

(ii) a restriction on his or her ability to provide one or more than one kind of health or social care in the State or another jurisdiction,]

(f) a contravention of this Act, the rules or bye-laws, or

(g) a conviction in the State for an offence triable on indictment or a conviction outside the State for an offence consisting of acts or omissions that, if done or made in the State, would constitute an offence triable on indictment.

(2) A complaint may be made under subsection (1) on the grounds of professional misconduct or poor professional performance even though the matter to which the complaint relates occurred outside the State.

(3) The complaint must be in writing or in any other form acceptable to the Council and it may be made by or on behalf of any person or by a registration board.

(4) The Council shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the complainant is kept informed of all decisions made under this Part by the Council or a committee in relation to a complaint and that complaints are processed in a timely manner.

Annotations

Amendments:

F90

Substituted (31.12.2014) by Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 (33/2014), s. 26, S.I. No. 588 of 2014.

F91

Substituted (24.03.2021) by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 36(a)(i), S.I. No. 120 of 2021.

F92

Inserted (24.03.2021) by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 36(a)(ii), S.I. No. 120 of 2021.

F93

Inserted by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 36(b), not commenced as of date of revision.

F94

Substituted by Health Identifiers Act 2014 (15/2014), s. 36(a), (b), not commenced as of date of revision.

F95

Inserted by Health Identifiers Act 2014 (15/2014), s. 36(c), not commenced as of date of revision.

Modifications (not altering text):

C10

Prospective affecting provision: subs. (2A) inserted by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 36(b), not commenced as of date of revision.

F93[(2A) (a) The chief executive officer (whether in his or her capacity as such or in his or her capacity as the registrar of a registration board) may, in relation to a complaint heard, being heard or to be heard by a committee of inquiry, whenever he or she considers it necessary to do so, request in writing the Garda Síochána to give to him or her information concerning the criminal record of the registrant the subject of the complaint that the committee may reasonably require for the performance of its functions.

(b) The Garda Síochána shall, subject to section 55 of the Data Protection Act 2018, comply with a request under paragraph (a) as soon as is practicable after receiving the request.

(c) The chief executive officer (whether in his or her capacity as such or in his or her capacity as the registrar of a registration board) may, whenever he or she considers it necessary to do so, request in writing that the registrar or clerk of a court which has convicted a registrant of an offence in the State to give to him or her a certificate of conviction (or, in the case of the District Court, a certified copy of the order concerned made by the Court), or a certified copy of the judgment, or both, in respect of the offence that the chief executive officer or Council (including any committee thereof), or both, may reasonably require for the performance of his or her or its functions under this Act in relation to that registrant.

(d) The registrar or clerk of the court concerned the subject of a request under paragraph (c) shall comply with the request as soon as is practicable after receiving the request.

(e) In this subsection, "criminal record", in relation to a registrant, means a record of the previous convictions (other than spent convictions within the meaning of section 5 of the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions and Certain Disclosures) Act 2016 ) of the registrant for offences (if any).]

C11

Prospective affecting provision: subss. (1)(f) substituted and (fa) inserted, subs. (3) amended and subs. (3A) inserted by Health Identifiers Act 2014 (15/2014), s. 36(a)-(c), not commenced as of date of revision.

52.—(1) ...

F94[(f) a contravention of this Act, the rules or bye-laws,

(fa) a failure to comply with a provision of the Health Identifiers Act 2014 applicable to the registrant in his or her capacity (if any) as a health services provider within the meaning of section 2 of that Act, or]

...

F94[(3) Subject to subsection (3A), the complaint] must be in writing or in any other form acceptable to the Council and it may be made by or on behalf of any person or by a registration board.

(3A) A complaint shall not be made by a person other than the Minister if the ground concerned is a registrant’s failure to comply with a provision referred to in subsection (1) (fa).