NURSING AND MATERNITY HOMES REGISTRATION ORDINANCE

NURSING AND MATERNITY HOMES REGISTRATION ORDINANCE

CHAPTER 165.

NURSING AND MATERNITY HOMES REGISTRATION.

To provide fur the registration and inspection of nursing


homes and maternity homes and for Purposes connected
therewith.

[1st January, 1937.]

1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Nursing and

Maternity Homes Registration Ordinance.

2. (1) In this Ordinance

'certified midwife' means a woman certified under the Midwives
Ordinance;

'maternity home' means any premises used or intended to be used for
the reception of pregnant women or of women immediately after
childbirth ; but does not include any hospital or other premises
maintained or controlled by any Imperial or local Government
department;

'nursing home' means any premises used or intended to be used for
the reception of and the providing of nursing for persons
suffering from any sickness, injury, or infirmity; but does not
include any hospital or other premises maintained or controlled by
any Imperial or local Government department;

'pupil midwife' means a person who is undergoing training with a
view to becoming a certified midwife, and for that purpose.
attending women in childbirth as part of a course of practical
instruction recognized by the Midwives Board established under
subsection (i) and section 4 of the Midwives Ordinance;

'qualified nurse' means a person registered in the general part of the
register of nurses required to be kept under the Nurses
Registration Ordinance;

'register' and 'registration' mean register and registration under this
Ordinance.

(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 case 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 required to be kept under the Nurses Registration Ordinance,
other than the general part of that register, references in the definition
of 'qualified nurse' contained in subsection (i) to the general part of
the register shall be construed as including references to that other
part of the register.

3. (1) If any person carries on a nursing home or a maternity home
without being duly registered in respect thereof, he shall be guilty of
an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of one
thousand dollars, or in the case of a second or subsequent offence, to
a fine of one thousand dollars and imprisonment for three months.

(2) Application for registration shall be made to the Director of
Medical and Health Services (hereinafter referred to as the Director) in
writing in a form prescribed by him, and shall be accompanied by a fee
of five dollars. Where the applicant desires registration of premises as
a nursing home and as a maternity home separate forms shall be used
and separate fees shall be paid in respect of each.

(3) Subject as provided in this Ordinance, the Director shall, on
receipt of an application for registration, register the applicant in
respect of the nursing home or maternity home named in the
application and issue him a certificate of registration : Provided that the
Director may refuse to register the applicant if he is satisfied

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

(b)that for reasons connected with situation, construction,
accommodation, staffing or equipment, the home or any
premises used in connexion therewith are not fit to be used
for a nursing or maternity home of such a description as the
home named in the application, or that the home or premises
are used or to be used for purposes which are in any way
improper or undesirable in the case of such a home; or

(c)in the case of a nursing home, that the home is not under the
charge of a person who is either a duly





qualified medical practitioner or a qualified nurse and who is
resident in the home, or that there is not a proper proportion
of qualified nurses aniong the persons having the
superintendence of or employed in the nursing of the
patients in the home; or

(d) in the case of a maternity home that the person
having the superintendence of the nursing of the
patients in the home is not a certified midwife, or
that any person employed in attending any woman
in the home in childbirth or in nursing any patient
in the home is not either a duly qualified medical
practitioner, a certified midwife, or a pupil midwife,
or that there is not a proper proportion of certified
midwives or pupil midwives among the persons
having the superintendence of or employed in the
attendance on or nursing of the patients in the
home.

(4) The current certificate of registration issued in respect of a
nursing home or maternity home shall be kept affixed in a conspicuous
place in the home, and, if default is made in complying with the
foregoing requirement, the person carrying on the home shall be guilty
of an offence.

(5) Subject to the provisions of section 4, registration shall be
valid until the end of the year in which it is made. Every person
registered in respect of a nursing home or maternity home who desires
to continue to be so registered for any subsequent year shall make
application in the month of December for re-registration and shall pay
the fee prescribed by subsection (2).

4. Subject as provided in this Ordinance, the Director may at any
time cancel the registration of a person in respect of any nursing home
or maternity home on any ground which would entitle him to refuse an
application for the registration of that person in respect of that home,
or on the ground that that person had been convicted of an offence
against this Ordinance or that any other person has been convicted of
such an offence in respect of that home.





5. (1) Before making an order refusing an application for
registration or an order cancelling any registration the Director
shall give to the applicant or to the person registered, as the case
may be, not less than fourteen days' notice of his intention to
make such aii order, and every such notice shall state the
grounds on which lie intends to make the order and shall contain
an intimation that, if within fourteen clays after the receipt of
the notice the applicant or person registered informs him in
writing that he, desires so to do, lie will, before making the order,
give him (In person or by a representative) an opportunity of
showing cause why the order should not be made.

If the Director, after giving the applicant or the person
registered (if Under the provisions of the preceding subsection
he is entitled so to do) an opportunity of showing cause as
aforesaid, decides to refuse the application for registration or to
cancel the registration, he shall make an order to that effect aiid
shall send a copy or the order by, registered post to the
applicant or the person registered.

Any person aggrieved by an order refusing an
application for registration or cancelling any registration
may, Within fourteen days after the date on which the copy
of the order was sent to him, appeal against it to the
Governor in Council.

(4) No such order shall come into force 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
decided or withdrawn.

G. The Governor in Council may make regulations-

(a)prescribing the records to be kept of the patients
received into a nursing home or maternity home, and, in
the case of a maternity home, of any miscarriages or
still-births occurring in the home, and of the children
born therein and of the children so born who are
removed from the home otherwise than to the custody
or care of any parent, guardian or relative ;

(b)requiring notification to be given of any death occurring
in a nursing home or maternity home

(c) prescribing offences in the case of contravention of

any such regulation and penalties therefor:





Provided that no penalties so prescribed shall exceed those
prescribed by subsection (1) of section 9.

7. (1) The Director, any medical officer appointed by the Governor
as a health officer, any officer for the time being performing the duties
of a health officer or some person duly authorized by the Director may,
subject to such regulations as may be made by the Governor in
Council, at all reasonable times enter and inspect any premises which
are used, or which that officer or person has reasonable cause to
believe to be used, for the purposes of nursing home or maternity home
and to inspect any records required to be kept in accordance with the
provisions of the Ordinance.

(2) If any person refuses to allow any such officer to enter or
inspect any such premises as aforesaid or to inspect any such records
as aforesaid, or obstructs any such officer in the execution of his
powers under this section he shall be guilty of an offence.

8. The Governor in Council may by resolution grant exemption
frorn the operation of this Ordinance in respect of any hospital or
institution. The hospitals and institutions in the Schedule shall be
deemed to have been granted exemption under this section. The
Governor in Council may at any time add to or amend the Schedule and
may withdraw any exemption granted, or deemed to have been granted,
under this section or may by resolution impose a condition or
conditions in any or all cases for such exemption to continue.

9. (1) If any person is guilty of an offence against this Ordinance
(other than an offence in respect of which some otlier penalty is
specifically provided by this Ordinance) he shall in respect of each
offence be liable on summary conviction to a fine of two hundred and
fifty dollars, and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine
of fifty dollars in respect of each day on which the offence continues
after conviction.

(2) Where a person convicted of an offence against this
Ordinance 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 fie
proves that the act constituting the offence took place without his
knowledge or consent.

SCHEDULE. [s. 8.]

The Alice Memorial and Affiliated Hospitals (The Alice Memorial G.N.A. 66/50.
Hospital, the Alice Memorial Maternity Hospital, the Nethersole
Hospital and the Ho Miu Ling Hospital.)
The Babington Hospital and Sanatorium.
The St. Teresa's Hospital.
The Hong Kong Anti-Tuberculosis Association's Ruttonjee Sana-
torium.
The Hong Kong Central Hospital.
The Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital (formerly Yeung Wo
Hospital).
The Kwong Wah Hospital.
The Ling Yuet Sin Infants' Hospital.
The Matilda and War Memorial Hospital.
The St. Francis Hospital.
The St. Paul's Hospital.
The Sisters of the Precious Blood Hospital.
The Tai Wo Hospital.
The Tung Wah Hospital.
The Tung Wah Eastern Hospital.
48 of 1936. 9 of 1950. 22 of 1950. Short title. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 12 (1). Interpretation. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 10 (1). (Cap. 162). (Cap. 164). (Cap. 164). Registration of nursing and maternity homes. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 1. 22 of 1950, Schedule. [s. 3 cont.] Cancellation of registration. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 2. Notice of refusal or of cancellation of registration. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 3. Regulations. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 4. [s. 6 cont.] Inspection of nursing homes. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 5. Power to exempt certain institutions. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 6. Schedule. 9 of 1950, Schedule. Penalty for offences against Ordinance and provision as to offences by companies. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 8. 22 of 1950, Schedule. G. N. A. 66/50.

48 of 1936. 9 of 1950. 22 of 1950. Short title. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 12 (1). Interpretation. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 10 (1). (Cap. 162). (Cap. 164). (Cap. 164). Registration of nursing and maternity homes. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 1. 22 of 1950, Schedule. [s. 3 cont.] Cancellation of registration. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 2. Notice of refusal or of cancellation of registration. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 3. Regulations. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 4. [s. 6 cont.] Inspection of nursing homes. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 5. Power to exempt certain institutions. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 6. Schedule. 9 of 1950, Schedule. Penalty for offences against Ordinance and provision as to offences by companies. 17 & 18 Geo. 5, c. 38, s. 8. 22 of 1950, Schedule. G. N. A. 66/50.

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