PART II
MEDICAL COUNCIL
3. The Medical Council of Singapore shall continue to exist as a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal and shall, as from 3rd April 1998, be known as the Singapore Medical Council.
4.
—(1) The Medical Council shall consist of —
(a)
the Director of Medical Services;
(b)
2 registered medical practitioners from each prescribed medical school in Singapore to be appointed by the Minister on the nomination of the council of the university to which the prescribed medical school belongs, one of whom shall be the Dean of the medical school;
(c)
12 registered medical practitioners resident in Singapore to be elected by the fully registered medical practitioners resident in Singapore; and
(d)
8 registered medical practitioners resident in Singapore to be appointed by the Minister.
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(2) The members referred to in subsection (1)(b), (c) and (d) shall hold office for a period of 3 years and shall be eligible for reappointment or re-election.
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(3) If for any reason the Director of Medical Services is unable to attend a particular meeting of the Medical Council, he may nominate a representative to attend the meeting and when so attending the representative shall be deemed for all purposes to be a member of the Medical Council.
(4) The Minister may, at any time, revoke the appointment of any member appointed under subsection (1)(b) or (d) without assigning any reason.
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5. The functions of the Medical Council are —
(a)
to keep and maintain registers of registered medical practitioners;
(b)
to approve or reject applications for registration under this Act or to approve any such application subject to such restrictions as it may think fit;
(c)
to issue practising certificates to registered medical practitioners;
(d)
to make recommendations to the appropriate authorities on the courses of instructions and examinations leading to the Singapore degree;
(e)
to make recommendations to the appropriate authorities for the training and education of registered medical practitioners;
(f)
to determine and regulate the conduct and ethics of registered medical practitioners; and
(fa)
to determine and regulate standards of practice and the competence of registered medical practitioners within the medical profession;
(fb)
to provide administrative services to other bodies (whether corporate or unincorporate) responsible for the regulation of healthcare professionals; and
(g)
generally to do all such acts and matters and things as are necessary to be carried out under this Act.
6.
—(1) Every fully registered medical practitioner resident in Singapore who has in force a practising certificate on the day of election of candidates as members of the Medical Council referred to in section 4(1)(c) shall vote for the election of such members at such time and in such manner as may be prescribed.
(2) Every registered medical practitioner who is required to vote for the election of the members of the Medical Council in accordance with subsection (1) and who fails to do so shall not be entitled to apply for a practising certificate unless he —
(a)
satisfies the Registrar that he had a good and sufficient reason for not voting at the election; or
(b)
pays to the Medical Council a penalty prescribed by the Medical Council.
7.
—(1) The Medical Council shall have a President who shall be elected by the members of the Medical Council from among its members.
(2) The President elected under subsection (1) shall serve for a term not extending beyond the expiration of the term for which he has been appointed or elected to be a member of the Medical Council and shall be eligible for re-election.
(3) The President shall preside at any meeting of the Medical Council and, in his absence, such member as the members present may elect shall preside at that meeting.
8. No person shall be a member of the Medical Council —
(a)
if he is not a citizen or a permanent resident of Singapore;
(b)
if he is not a registered medical practitioner with at least 10 years’ experience in the practice of medicine;
(c)
if he is an undischarged bankrupt;
(d)
if he has been convicted in Singapore or elsewhere of any offence involving fraud, dishonesty or moral turpitude or implying a defect in character which makes him unfit for his profession;
(e)
if he has been found guilty in Singapore or elsewhere of any improper act or conduct which brings disrepute to his profession;
(f)
if he has been found guilty in Singapore or elsewhere of professional misconduct; or
(g)
if his fitness to practise as a medical practitioner is judged by the Health Committee to be impaired by reason of his physical or mental condition.
9.
—(1) The office of a member of the Medical Council shall become vacant if the member —
(a)
dies;
(b)
resigns his office;
(c)
is incapacitated by physical or mental illness;
(d)
becomes subject to any of the disqualifications specified in section 8;
(e)
without any good and sufficient reason, refuses to accept an appointment as a member of any committee appointed under section 11 or of the Credentials Committee or the Health Committee; or
(f)
has his appointment revoked before the expiry of the term for which he has been appointed.
(2) The Medical Council may, with the approval of the Minister, remove from office any member of the Medical Council who is absent without leave of the Medical Council from 3 consecutive ordinary meetings of —
(a)
the Medical Council; or
(b)
any committee appointed under section 11 or of the Credentials Committee or the Health Committee of which he is a member.
(3) Any question as to whether a person has ceased to be a member of the Medical Council shall be determined by the Minister whose decision shall be final.
(4) If any vacancy arises among the elected members, the Minister shall, as soon as practicable, appoint any registered medical practitioner resident in Singapore to fill that vacancy.
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(5) If any vacancy arises among the appointed members, the Minister may appoint a person to fill the vacancy in the manner in which the appointment to the vacant office was made.
(6) Any person appointed to fill the vacancy shall hold office for as long as the member in whose place he was appointed would have held office.
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(7) The Medical Council may act notwithstanding any vacancy in the Medical Council and no act done by or by the authority of the Medical Council shall be invalid in consequence of any defect that is afterwards discovered in the appointment or election or qualification of the members or any of them.
10. The Medical Council may appoint an executive secretary and such other employees on such terms and conditions as the Medical Council may determine.
11.
—(1) The Medical Council may —
(a)
appoint one or more committees for any general or special purpose which in the opinion of the Medical Council may be better dealt with or managed by a committee; and
(b)
delegate to any committee so appointed, with or without restrictions or conditions as it thinks fit, any of the powers or functions which may be exercised or performed by the Medical Council.
(2) The number and term of office of the members of a committee appointed under this section and the number of those members necessary to form a quorum shall be fixed by the Medical Council.
(3) A committee appointed under this section may include persons who are not members of the Medical Council.
(4) The Medical Council may continue to exercise any power conferred upon it or perform any function under this Act notwithstanding the delegation of such power or function under this section.
12.
—(1) The Medical Council shall meet at such times and places as the President or the Registrar may appoint.
(2) The quorum at every meeting of the Medical Council shall be one-third of the total number of members in office or 7 members, whichever is the higher.
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[Act 2/2012 wef 01/03/2012]
(3) The chairman at any meeting of the Medical Council shall have an original vote and, in the case of an equality of votes, a casting vote.
(4) There shall be paid to the members of the Medical Council and members of any committee appointed by the Medical Council, or their respective employers, such fees as may, from time to time, be approved by the Minister.
(5) The Medical Council may make rules for the conduct of its business.