Nurses and Midwives Act 2011

55.

Complaints concerning registered nurses and registered midwives.

55.— (1) A person (including the Board) may make a complaint to the F32[chief executive officer] concerning a registered nurse or registered midwife on one or more than one of the grounds of—

(a) professional misconduct,

(b) poor professional performance,

(c) non-compliance with a code of professional conduct,

(d) a relevant medical disability,

(e) a failure to comply with a relevant condition,

F32[(ea) the imposition on the nurse or midwife 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 failure to comply with an undertaking or to take any action specified in a consent given in response to a request under F32[section 57A(1) or 65(1)],

(g) a contravention of a provision of this Act (including a provision of any regulations or rules made under this Act),

F33[(ga) a failure to comply with regulations made under section 13(2) of the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013,]

(h) an irregularity in relation to the custody, prescription or supply of a controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Acts 1977 and 1984 or another drug that is likely to be abused, or

(i) 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 on the grounds of professional misconduct or poor professional performance notwithstanding that the matter to which the complaint relates occurred outside the State.

F34[(2A) ...]

F35[(2B) Subject to subsection (2C), where the chief executive officer receives a complaint, he or she shall comply with section 56A in respect of the complaint unless

(a) he or she is satisfied that the complaint is not made in good faith, or

(b) he or she is satisfied that the complaint is frivolous or vexatious.

(2C) Subsection (2B) shall not apply to a complaint where the Board is the complainant.

(2D) Where the chief executive officer decides that a complaint falls within subsection (2B)(a) or (b), he or she shall give notice in writing to the complainant (and, if the chief executive officer is of the opinion that it is in the interests of the complainant, or the registered nurse or registered midwife to whom the complaint relates, or of both, to do so, to such nurse or midwife) of the decision and the reasons for the decision.]

(3) The F36[chief executive officer] shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that—

(a) the complainant is kept informed of all decisions made under this Part and, if applicable, Parts 8 and 9 by F36[the chief executive officer, the Preliminary Proceedings Committee], any other committee, or the Board, in relation to the complaint concerned,

F36[(b) the authorised officers act expeditiously, and,]

(c) complaints are processed in a timely manner.

F37[(3A) The chief executive officer may, in relation to the complaint concerned, inform, in addition to the complainant, other parties to the proceedings under this Act concerning the complaint, of the decisions referred to in subsection (3)(a).]

(4) F38[]

(5) Where a complaint falls within subsection (1)(i), the F39[chief executive officer] shall immediately refer the complaint to the Board.

(6) The Board shall consider a complaint referred to it under subsection (5) and—

(a) if it is of the opinion that—

(i) the nature of the offence that is the subject of the complaint or the circumstances in which the offence was committed render the nurse or midwife F40[a person who has permanently ceased to be a fit and proper person to continue to practise nursing or midwifery in the State], and

(ii) it is in the public interest that it take action immediately under this paragraph,

the Board shall decide under section 69(1) to cancel the nurse’s or midwife’s registration under section 69(1)(f), and

(b) in any other case, the Board shall refer the complaint back to the F40[chief executive officer and direct that officer] to deal with the complaint as if the complaint had never been so referred.

(7) Nothing in subsection (6) shall be construed to—

(a) prejudice the generality of section 58, or

(b) limit the range of the measures which the Board may decide to take under section 69 with regard to a registered nurse or registered midwife in any case where the Board has taken the action referred to in subsection (6)(b).

(8) The F41[chief executive officer] shall refuse to consider or further consider a complaint in respect of a matter which occurred before the repeal of section 38 of the Act of 1985 by section 4 if the matter was the subject of an application under Part V of the Act of 1985.

F42[(8A) A complaint made before the commencement of section 159 of the Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 which has not been disposed of or otherwise dealt with under this Act before that commencement shall be disposed of or otherwise dealt with under this Act as this Act was in force immediately before that commencement.]

(9) A complaint is a protected disclosure under the Health Act 2004 (as amended by the Health Act 2007).

Annotations

Amendments:

F32

Substituted and inserted (1.08.2021) by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 159(a)(i)-(iii), S.I. No. 409 of 2021.

F33

Inserted (24.06.2013) by Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013 (14/2013), s. 35, S.I. No. 202 of 2013.

F34

Inserted by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 159(b), not commenced as of date of revision.

F35

Inserted (1.08.2021) by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 159(b), S.I. No. 409 of 2021.

F36

Substituted (1.08.2021) by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 159(c)(i)-(iii), S.I. No. 409 of 2021.

F37

Inserted (1.08.2021) by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 159(d), S.I. No. 409 of 2021.

F38

Deleted (1.08.2021) by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 159(e), S.I. No. 409 of 2021.

F39

Substituted (1.08.2021) by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 159(f), S.I. No. 409 of 2021.

F40

Substituted (1.08.2021) by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 159(g)(i), (ii), S.I. No. 409 of 2021.

F41

Substituted (1.08.2021) by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 159(h), S.I. No. 409 of 2021.

F42

Inserted (1.08.2021) by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 159(i), S.I. No. 409 of 2021.

F43

Substituted by Health Identifiers Act 2014 (15/2014), s. 39(a)(i), not commenced as of date of revision.

F44

Substituted by Health Identifiers Act 2014 (15/2014), s. 39(a)(ii), not commenced as of date of revision

F45

Inserted by Health Identifiers Act 2014 (15/2014), s. 39(b), not commenced as of date of revision.

Modifications (not altering text):

C8

Prospective affecting provision: subs. (2A) inserted by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 159(b), not commenced as of date of revision.

F34[(2A) (a) The chief executive officer may, in relation to a complaint heard, being heard or to be heard by the Fitness to Practise Committee, 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 nurse or midwife 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 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 nurse or midwife 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 Board (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 nurse or midwife.

(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 nurse or midwife, 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 nurse or midwife for offences (if any).]

C9

Prospective affecting provision: subs. (1) amended and subs. (1A) inserted by Health Identifiers Act 2014 (15/2014), s. 39, not commenced as of date of revision.

55.— (1) F43[Subject to subsection (1A), a person] (including the Board) may make a complaint to the F32[chief executive officer] concerning a registered nurse or registered midwife on one or more than one of the grounds of— ...

F44[(ga) a failure to comply with

(i) regulations made under section 13(2) of the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013, or

(ii) a provision of the Health Identifiers Act 2014 applicable to the nurse or midwife in his or her capacity (if any) as a health services provider within the meaning of section 2 of that Act,]

...

F45[(1A) A complaint shall not be made by a person other than the Minister if the ground concerned is a registered nurses or registered midwifes failure to comply with a provision referred to in subsection (1)(ga)(ii).]

...