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NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
LONG TITLE

An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to nursing homes
and nursing agencies.
[7th December 1971]
PART I

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 1

1.(1) Any person who carries on a nursing home without being duly
registered in respect thereof shall be guilty of an offence and
shall be liable on summary conviction

(a)for a first offence, to a fine not exceeding #50;

(b)for a second or subsequent offence, to imprisonment for a term
not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding #50, or to
both.

(2) An application for registration of a nursing home shall be made
in writing in the prescribed form to the [Health and Social
Services Board] and shall be accompanied by [such fee as may be
prescribed].

(3) Subject as provided in this Part, the [Health and Social
Services Board] shall, on the receipt of an application for
registration of a nursing home, register the applicant in respect of
the nursing home specified in the application and issue to him a
certificate of registration.

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 2
Circumstances in which registration may be refused.

2.(1) The [Health and Social Services Board] may refuse to register
an applicant under section 1 if it is satisfied

(a)that the applicant or any person employed by him at the nursing
home is not a fit person, whether by reason of age or otherwise,
to carry on or to be employed at a nursing home of such a
description as the nursing home specified in the application; or

(b)that, for reasons connected with situation, construction,
accommodation, staffing or equipment, the nursing home or any
premises used in connection therewith is or are not fit to be used
for a nursing home of such a description as the nursing home
specified in the application; or

(c)that the nursing home, or any premises used in connection
therewith, is or are used, or to be used, for purposes which are
in any way improper or undesirable in the case of a nursing home
of such a description as the nursing home specified in the
application; or

(d)in the case of a nursing home (other than a maternity home),
that the nursing home is not under the charge of a person who is
either a fully registered person or a qualified nurse and who is
resident in the nursing home, or that there is not a proper
proportion of qualified nurses among the persons having the
superintendence of, or employed in, the nursing of the patients in
the nursing home; or

(e)in the case of a maternity home, that the person having the
superintendence of the nursing of the patients in the maternity home
is neither a qualified nurse nor a [registered] midwife, or that
any person employed in attending any woman in the maternity home in
childbirth, or in nursing any patient in the maternity home, is not

(i)a fully registered person; or

(ii)a [registered] midwife; or

<(iii)a [pupil midwife] [student midwife].

[(2) In relation to any nursing home, a person is to be treated
as a qualified nurse if he possesses such qualifications as the
Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland
considers to be requisite in the provision of nursing care for
patients in that home.]

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 3
Display of certificates of registration.

3. If any person to whom a certificate of registration in respect
of a nursing home has been issued pursuant to section 1(3) fails
to keep the certificate affixed in a conspicuous place in the
nursing home, he shall be guilty of an offence.

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 4
Cancellation of registration.

4. Subject to the provisions of this Part, the [Health and Social
Services Board] may at any time cancel the registration of a person
in respect of any nursing home

(a)on any ground which would entitle that [Board] to refuse an
application for the registration of that person in respect of that
home; or

(b)on the ground that that person has been convicted of an offence
under this Part; or

(c)that any other person has been convicted of an offence under
this Part in respect of that home.

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 5
Refusal to register, and cancellation of registration.

5.(1) Before refusing under section 2 an application for the
registration of a nursing home or cancelling under section 3 the
registration of a nursing home, the [Health and Social Services
Board] shall give to the applicant or, as the case may be, to the
person registered not less than fourteen days' notice of its
intention to refuse the application or, as the case may be, to
cancel the registration.

(2) Every notice under subsection (1) shall

(a)state the grounds on which the [Health and Social Services Board]
intends to refuse the application or, as the case may be, to
cancel the registration; and

(b)contain an intimation that, if, within fourteen days of the
receipt of the notice, the applicant or, as the case may be, the
person registered informs the [Health and Social Services Board] in
writing that he desires to do so, the [Board] will, before refusing
the application or, as the case may be, cancelling the registration,
give him (in person or by a representative) an opportunity of
showing cause why the application should not be refused or, as the
case may be, why the registration should not be cancelled.

(3) Where the [Health and Social Services Board], after giving the
applicant or, as the case may be, the person registered (if, under
subsections (1) and (2), he is entitled to do so) an opportunity
of showing cause as aforesaid, decides to refuse the application for
registration or, as the case may be, to cancel the registration,
the [Board] shall

(a)make an order to that effect, and endorse thereon notice of the
right of appeal under subsection (4); and

(b)send a copy of the order so endorsed by registered post or by
the recorded delivery service to the applicant or, as the case may
be, to the person registered.

(4) Subject to subsections (5) and (6), any person aggrieved by an
order under subsection (3) may, within fourteen days after the date
on which the copy of the order was sent to him, appeal against it
to a court of summary jurisdiction, and the decision of that court
shall be final and effect shall be given thereto by the [Health
and Social Services Board].

(5) Notice in writing of an appeal under subsection (4), and of
the grounds thereof, shall be given by the appellant to the [chief
administrative officer] of the [Health and Social Services Board].

(6) A court of summary jurisdiction, on hearing an appeal under
subsection (4), may

(a)make such order in the matter as it considers reasonable;

(b)award costs.

(7) An order under subsection (3) shall not come into operation
until the expiration of fourteen days from the date on which it
was made or, where notice of appeal is given against it, until the
appeal has been determined or withdrawn.

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 6
Regulations.

6.(1) The Ministry of Health and Social Services (in this Act
referred to as "the Ministry") may make regulations as to the
conduct of nursing homes, and in particular (without prejudice to
the generality of the foregoing provision)

(a)empowering the [Health and Social Services Boards] to limit the
number of persons, or of persons of any description, who may be
received into any nursing home and enabling the registration of any
nursing home to be made subject to the condition that persons shall
not be received therein in excess of the number specified for the
nursing home in accordance with the regulations;

(b)as to the facilities and services to be provided in nursing
homes;

(c)with respect to the records to be kept of

(i)patients received into a nursing home;

(ii)miscarriages occurring in a nursing home;

<(iii)children born in a nursing home; and

<(iv)children born in a nursing home who are removed therefrom otherwise than into the care of any parent, guardian or relative;

(d)as to the notification of any death, and the cause thereof,
occurring in a nursing home;

(e)prescribing anything which under this Part is to be prescribed.

(2) The registers to be kept by [Health and Social Services Boards]
for the purposes of this Part shall be in such form and contain
such particulars as may be prescribed.

(3) Regulations under this section may provide that a person
contravening any specified provisions of the regulations shall be
guilty of an offence under this Part.

(4) Regulations under this section shall be subject to negative
resolution.

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 7
Inspection of nursing homes.

7.(1) An officer duly authorised by the Ministry, [and any medical
officer, qualified nurse or other officer of the Health and Social
Services Board duly authorised by the Board], may, at all reasonable
times, enter and inspect any premises which are used, or which that
officer has reasonable cause to believe to be used, for the
purposes of a nursing home, and, subject to subsection (2), to
inspect any records which are required to be kept in accordance
with the provisions of this Part.

(2) Nothing in this Act shall authorise any officer mentioned in
subsection (1) to inspect any medical record relating to any patient
in a nursing home.

(3) Any person who

(a)refuses to permit any officer mentioned in subsection (1)

(i)to enter or inspect any premises mentioned in that subsection; or

(ii)subject to subsection (2), to inspect any records mentioned in
subsection (1); or

(b)obstructs any such officer in the exercise of his powers under
this section;

Penalties for certain offences.

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 8

8.(1) Any person guilty of an offence under this Part (other than
an offence under section 1(1)) shall be liable on summary conviction
to a fine not exceeding #20.

(2) Where a person convicted of an offence under this Part is a
company, the chairman and every director of the company, and every
officer of the company concerned in the management thereof, shall be
guilty of the like offence, unless he proves that the act
constituting the offence took place without his knowledge or consent.

S.9 rep. by 1972 NI 14 art.109(3) sch.18

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 10
Interpretation of Part I.

10.(1) In this Part

Definition rep. by 1972 NI 14 art.109(3) sch.18

["Health and Social Services Board" means the appropriate Health and
Social Services Board established under Article 16 of the Health and
Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972;]

["Joint Council" has the meaning assigned to it by section 54(1) of
the Act of 1970;]

"maternity home" means any premises used, and intended to be used,
for the reception of pregnant women or of women immediately after
childbirth;

"nursing home" means any premises used, and intended to be used,
for the reception of, and the provision of nursing for, persons
suffering from any sickness, injury or infirmity and includes a
maternity home, but does not include

(a)any hospital or other premises maintained or controlled by a
Government department, ..., or by any other body of persons
constituted by special Act of Parliament or incorporated by Royal
Charter; or

(b)any private hospital within the meaning of the Mental Health Act
(Northern Ireland) 1961;

"prescribed" means prescribed by regulations under section 6;

Definition rep. by 1972 NI 14 art.109(3) sch.18

["pupil midwife" means a person who is undergoing training with a
view to becoming a midwife and, for that purpose, attending women
in childbirth as part of a course of practical instruction in
midwifery recognised by the Northern Ireland Council for Nurses and
Midwives;]

["student midwife" means a person who is undergoing training with a
view to becoming a registered midwife, and for that purpose
attending women in childbirth, as part of a course of practical
instruction in midwifery recognised by the National Board for
Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting for Northern Ireland;]

["qualified nurse" means a person registered in the general part of
the register of nurses or a person who had, before the 1st January
1930, completed a three years' course of training in a hospital
which was during the period of her training, or subsequently became,
a training school approved by the former Joint Council, or the
General Nursing Council for England and Wales, or the General
Nursing Council for Scotland, for the purpose of admission to the
general part of the register of nurses;]

"register" and "registration", in relation to nursing homes, mean
register and registration under this Part, and "the person
registered" shall be construed accordingly;

["the register of nurses" has the meaning assigned to "the register"
by section 54(1) of the Act of 1970;]

Definition rep. by 1972 NI 14 art.109(3) sch.18

[(2) In relation to any premises used, or intended to be used,
solely for the reception of, and the provision of nursing for, a
class of patients in whose care the requisite nursing can be
suitably and adequately provided by nurses of a class whose names
are contained in some part of the register of nurses other than
the general part of that register, references in the definition of
"qualified nurse", in subsection (1), to the general part of the
register shall be construed as including references to that other
part of that register.]

Conduct of nursing agencies.

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 11

11.[(1) A person carrying on a nursing agency shall, in carrying on
that agency, supply only

(a)registered nurses;

(b)enrolled nurses;

(c)midwives;

(d)such other classes of persons as may be prescribed.]

[(1) A person carrying on a nursing agency shall, in carrying on
that agency, supply only

(a)registered nurses and registered midwives; and

(b)such other classes of persons as may be prescribed.]

(2) A person carrying on a nursing agency shall, at the prescribed
time and in the prescribed manner, give to every person to whom he
supplies a nurse, midwife or other person a statement in writing in
the prescribed form as to the qualifications of the person supplied.

(3) A person shall not carry on a nursing agency unless the
selection of the person to be supplied for each particular case is
made by or under the supervision of a [registered nurse] [registered
and qualified nurse] or a fully registered person.

(4) A person carrying on a nursing agency shall keep such records
in relation thereto as may be prescribed.

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 12
Licensing of nursing agencies.

12.(1) A person shall not carry on a nursing agency on any
premises unless he is the holder of a licence issued by the
Ministry authorising him to do so on those premises.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Part, if any person desiring
to carry on a nursing agency makes an application in that behalf
to the Ministry in the prescribed form, in the prescribed manner,
at the prescribed time and giving the prescribed information, and
pays to the Ministry the prescribed fee, the Ministry shall issue
to him a licence accordingly.

(3) A licence issued under subsection (2) shall be subject to such
conditions as may seem to the Ministry to be appropriate for
securing the proper conduct of the agency, including conditions as
to the fees to be charged by the person carrying on the agency,
whether to the nurses, midwives or other persons supplied, or to
the persons to whom they are supplied.

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 13
Circumstances in which licences may be refused or revoked.

13.(1) An application for a licence under section 12 may be
refused, and any licence issued under section 12 may be revoked, on
any of the following grounds

(a)that the applicant or, as the case may be, the holder of the
licence is an individual under the age of twenty-one years or is
unsuitable to hold such a licence;

(b)that the premises are unsuitable;

(c)that the nursing agency has been or is being improperly
conducted;

(d)that an offence under section 16 has been committed in connection
with the carrying on of the nursing agency.

(2) Before refusing any application for a licence under section 12
or revoking any such a licence, the Ministry shall give to the
applicant or, as the case may be, to the holder of the licence
not less than fourteen days' notice of the Ministry's intention in
that behalf.

(3) Every notice under subsection (2) shall

(a)state the grounds on which the Ministry intends to refuse the
application or, as the case may be, to revoke the licence; and

(b)contain an intimation that, if, within fourteen days after the
receipt of the notice, the applicant or, as the case may be, the
holder of the licence informs the Ministry in writing that he
desires to do so, the Ministry will, before proceeding to such
refusal or, as the case may be, revocation, give him (in person or
by a representative) an opportunity of showing cause why the
application should not be refused or, as the case may be, why the
licence should not be revoked.

(4) Where the Ministry, after giving the applicant or, as the case
may be, the holder of the licence (if, under subsections (2) and
(3), he is entitled to do so) an opportunity of showing cause as
aforesaid, decides to refuse the application or, as the case may
be, to revoke the licence, the Ministry shall make an order to
that effect and shall send a copy of the order by registered post
or by the recorded delivery service to the applicant or, as the
case may be, to the holder of the licence.

(5) An applicant for a licence under section 12 who is aggrieved
by the refusal of the Ministry to issue such a licence to him, or
a holder of such a licence who is aggrieved by the revocation by
the Ministry of the licence, or by any conditions attached to the
licence, may, within twenty-one days from the receipt by him of
notice of the refusal of the licence or, as the case may be, of
the revocation of the licence or of the issue of the licence
subject to the conditions, appeal to a court of summary
jurisdiction, which may make such order thereon as it thinks just.

(6) The Ministry shall, if required by the person aggrieved to do
so, send or deliver to him, within seven days from the receipt of
the requirement, particulars in writing of the ground for the
refusal or, as the case may be, for the revocation or the
attachment of the conditions.

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 14
Supplementary provisions relating to licences.

14.(1) Every licence issued under section 12 shall, unless revoked,
be valid until the 31st December in the year next following that
in which the licence is issued, and no longer.

(2) On the death of the holder of a licence issued under section
12, the licence shall enure for the benefit of his personal
representatives, and references in this Part to the holder of such
a licence shall be construed accordingly.

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 15
Enforcement.

15. Any duly authorised officer of the Ministry may at all
reasonable times, on production (if so required) of his authority

(a)enter the premises specified in any licence issued under section
12, or in any application for such a licence, or any premises
which are used, or which that officer has reasonable cause to
believe to be used, for the purposes of, or in connection with, a
nursing agency; and

(b)inspect those premises and the records kept in connection with
any such agency carried on at those premises;

Offences, etc.

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 16

16.(1) Any person who carries on a nursing agency in contravention
of section 11(3), or without a licence issued under section 12,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary
conviction to a fine not exceeding #50 and, if he continues to
carry on the agency after conviction for such an offence, to an
additional fine not exceeding #5 for each day on which he so
continues to carry on the agency.

(2) Any person who carries on a nursing agency otherwise than in
accordance with the conditions of his licence shall be guilty of an
offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not
exceeding #5 and, if the contravention in respect of which he has
been convicted is continued after the conviction, to an additional
fine not exceeding #2 for each day on which the contravention is
so continued.

(3) Any person carrying on a nursing agency who, in carrying on
that agency, supplies any person in contravention of section 11(1)
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary
conviction to a fine not exceeding #50.

(4) Any person who

(a)makes, or causes or knowingly permits to be made, any entry in
a record required to be kept under this Part which he knows to be
false in a material particular; or

(b)for purposes connected with this Part, produces or furnishes, or
causes or knowingly permits to be produced or furnished, any record
or information which he knows to be false in a material particular;
or

(c)for the purpose of obtaining a licence under section 12, makes
any statement which he knows to be false in a material particular,
or recklessly makes any statement which is false in a material
particular;

(5) Any person who commits any contravention of this Part for which
a special penalty is not provided by the foregoing provisions of
this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on
summary conviction to a fine not exceeding #10.

(6) Where the person carrying on a nursing agency is convicted
under this section of an offence committed in the carrying on of
that agency on any premises, the court may (in lieu of, or in
addition to, imposing any other penalty) make an order revoking the
licence, if any, issued under section 12 authorising the carrying on
of that agency on those premises.

(7) Where any offence under this section by a body corporate is
proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of any
director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body, he, as
well as the body corporate, shall be deemed to be guilty of that
offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished
accordingly.

(8) Where any person is convicted of an offence under this section,
the proper officer of the court by which that person is convicted
shall forthwith send to the Ministry notice of that conviction.

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 17
Application of Part II, etc.

17.(1) The foregoing provisions of this Part shall not apply to

(a)any nursing agency carried on in connection with any hospital
maintained or controlled by any Government department or by any body
constituted by or under any enactment or incorporated by Royal
Charter; or

(b)the business carried on by any county or district nursing
association or other similar organisation, being an association or
organisation established and existing wholly or mainly for the
purpose of providing patients with the services of a nurse to visit
them in their homes without the nurse taking up residence there.

(2) The provisions of section 85 of the Public Health Acts
Amendment Act 1907, and any provisions relating to employment
agencies or servants registries contained in any local Act, shall
not apply to a nursing agency, but this subsection shall not exempt
from any such provisions any other business carried on in
conjunction with a nursing agency.

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 18
Regulations.

18.(1) The Ministry may make regulations for prescribing anything
which under this Part is to be prescribed.

(2) Regulations under this section shall be subject to negative
resolution.

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 19
Interpretation of Part II.

19. In this Part

"enactment" includes an enactment in any Act of Parliament (whether
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom or of the Parliament of
Northern Ireland and whether public general, local or private) and a
provision in a statutory order;

["enrolled nurse" and "registered nurse" have the same meanings as
in the Act of 1970;]

"nursing agency" means the business (whether or not carried on for
gain and whether or not carried on in conjunction with another
business) of supplying persons to act as nurses or of supplying
persons to act as nurses and persons to act as midwives;

"prescribed" means prescribed by regulations under section 18.

General definitions.

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 20

20. In this Act

["the Act of 1970" means the Nurses and Midwives Act (Northern
Ireland) 1970;

"fully registered person" has the meaning assigned to it by section
54(1) of the Medical Act 1956;

["midwife" has the meaning assigned to it by section 54(1) of the
Act of 1970;]

"the Ministry" has the meaning assigned to it by section 6(1).

S.21, with Schedule 1, effects amendments

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 22
Repeals and saving.

22.Subs.(1), with Schedule 2, effects repeals

(2) Notwithstanding the repeal by this Act of subsection (3) of
section 6 of the Midwives and Nursing Homes Act (Northern Ireland)
1929, the provisions of the proviso to that subsection shall
continue to apply to nursing homes and maternity homes which were
in existence (within the meaning of that subsection) immediately
before the 1st January 1930 as if this Act had not been passed.

NURSING HOMES AND NURSING AGENCIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 -
SECT 23
Short title and commencement.

23. This Act may be cited as the Nursing Homes and Nursing
Agencies Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 ... Commencement ...

Schedule 1Amendments. Schedule 2Repeals