Private Hospitals Act 1908 (NSW)

Act No. 14, 1908.

An Act to provide for the regulation and inspection of private hospitals. [14th Decem­

ber, 1908.]

Assembly of New South Wales in Parliament assembled, and by the	BE it enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and Legislative
authority of the same, as follows :—

Preliminary.

1. This Act may be cited as the " Private Hospitals Act, 1908 ."

2. In this Act, if not inconsistent with the context,—

" B i r t h " includes still-birth and miscarriage at any period.
" Hospital nurse " means a person who holds a certificate from a

recognised medical and surgical hospital showing that such person has attended the practice of such hospital for not less than three years, and has shown proficiency in medical and surgical nursing, and has passed an examination approved

of by the Board of Health.

" Manager " means the resident manager of a private hospital.

" Midwifery nurse " means a woman who holds a certificate from

a recognised maternity hospital showing that she has attended

the practice of such hospital for not less than one year, and
shown proficiency in midwifery, nursing, and obstetrics.

" Minister " means the Minister of the Crown for the time being charged with the administration of this Act.

" Pat ient" means any person received and lodged in a private

"Recogn i sed" means recognised by the Minister, on the recom­ mendation of the Board of Health, for the purposes of this Act.

hospital.

"Presc r ibed" means prescribed by this Act, or by regulations made under this Act.

" Private hospital" means any house, building, tent, or place (other than an institution wholly or in part supported by the

State) in which medical and surgical or lying-in cases are received and lodged, or in which it is intended that they

shall be received and lodged for treatment, attendance, or
care, and a charge is made for such treatment, attendance,

or care.

3. The Board of Health shall cause to he kept a register of

hospital nurses and midwifery nurses for the purposes of this Act, and such registers shall contain the prescribed particulars and be kept in the prescribed form.
4. Each person -whose name is on any such register shall inform the Board of Health of any change in his or her address, and
if default is made in complying with this section his or her name
may be removed by the board from such register.
5. The said board may remove from any such register the name of any person who—

(a)	has died, or has for a continuous period of twelve months been absent from New South Wales ; or
(b)	has been convicted of any felony or misdemeanour, or of any

offence which, if committed within New South Wales, would

be a felony or misdemeanour ; or

(c) has knowingly acted as nurse in a private hospital carried on otherwise than under this Act.

Licensing of private hospitals.

6. (1) No private hospital shall be carried on, used, or conducted, except under the authority of a license granted by the

Minister on the recommendation of the Board of Health.

(2) Every person who commits a breach of this section shall

be liable to a fine of not exceeding fifty pounds and not less than ten

pounds.

(3) Provided that the Minister may, on the recommendation of

the Board of Health, exempt any hospital from the operation of this Act.

(4) Provided also that the Minister may, on the recommenda-

tion of the Board of Health, exempt from the operation of this Act any private hospital which, owing to its remoteness, cannot be conducted in conformity with the conditions stipulated herein, and is certified by the nearest resident police officer as being respectably carried on and	necessary in the public; interests.	Such exemption to be revocable by
the Minister at any time.

(5) Provided also that institutions licensed under the Lunacy Act of 1898, or the Inebriates Act of 1900, or amendments of these

Acts, are exempt from the operation of this Act.

7. (1) Every application for a license shall bo addressed to the

Board of Health, and shall state the full name, place of abode, and

occupation of the applicant.

(2) Such application shall, except in the case of renewals,

be accompanied by—

(a) a statement of the maximum number of patients proposed to

be received into the private hospital;

(b)

(b) a plan of any house or building included in such hospital, on

a scale not less than eight feet to the inch ;

(c) a description of the situation thereof;

(d) a statement of the length, breadth, and height of, and a

reference by a figure or letter to, every room and apartment

therein ;

(e) a statement of the rooms to be used exclusively by the patients and those to be used exclusively by the nurses and other

employees, and by the licensee and his family, or by the

manager and his family ;

(f) a full description of the sanitary arrangements ; and

(g) a statement as to the number and class of cases intended to be

received, whether lying-in cases or surgical and medical cases.

8.    ( 1 ) No license shall be granted in respect of a private hospital

not previously licensed until the house and the buildings annexed thereto have been approved by the Minister, on the recommendation

of the Board of Health, and no addition to any private hospital shall

be made until the plan thereof has been approved by the Minister as

aforesaid.

( 2 ) Before granting any such license the Minister shall,

as aforesaid, satisfy himself as to the character and fitness of the

applicant.

(3) The license shall state whether it is in respect of a

lying-in private hospital or a medical and surgical private hospital, and no lying-in patient shall be received in a private hospital unless
it is licensed for such cases, and no patient other than a lying-in patient

shall be received in a private hospital for lying-in eases only:

Provided that where the Minister is satisfied as aforesaid that the accommodation is suitable, he may specially license a private hospital for both purposes.

9. The license shall continue in force until the thirty-first day

of December next after the date thereof, unless it is previously revoked

license. as hereinafter provided, but may be renewed by the granting of a new Management of private hospitals.

10. (1) For every private hospital there shall be a resident manager, who may be either the licensee himself, or some person appointed by the licensee; and in every case the manager shall be either a legally qualified medical practitioner or—

(a) a hospital nurse, in the case of a surgical and medical hospital;

(b) a midwifery nurse, in the case of a lying-in hospital; or

(c) a hospital nurse and midwifery nurse, or a hospital nurse having, as resident assistant, a midwifery nurse in the case

of a hospital licensed for other purposes ;

(d) any person approved by the Board of Health. ( 2 )

(2) The full name and qualification of every person

intended to be appointed under paragraphs (b) and (c) aforesaid, shall
be submitted by the licensee to the Board of Health for approval.

11. (1) When a patient in a private hospital licensed for

lying-in purposes is found or is reasonably suspected to be suffering from any disease which may be proclaimed for the purposes of this
Act by the Governor on the recommendation of the Board of Health,
the manager shall, within twenty-four hours, give notice thereof to the secretary of the Board of Health, in a form and manner to be prescribed.

(2) IE the manager of any such private hospital fails to give

any such notice or information, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding
fifty pounds.

12. In the case of a death or birth in a private hospital

licensed for lying-in purposes, the manager shall, within twenty-four
hours, and before interment in case of a death, report the same to the district registrar of births, deaths, and marriages, giving full particulars of the death or birth according to a form and in manner to be prescribed; and any manager who fails to make such immediate report shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds.

13. (1) In every private hospital there; shall be kept, in a form

to be prescribed, a register of patients in which shall, from time to
time, be entered—

(a) The name, age, and usual place of abode of every patient, and the date of his reception into the hospital.

(b) The name of the medical practitioner (if any) attending him.

(c) The date when he left the hospital, or, in the event of his death, the date thereof; and

(d) Such other particulars as may be prescribed.

(2) Such particulars shall be entered on the register by the

persons and at the times and in the manner prescribed.

(3) Every person required by regulations to make any such

entry, who knowingly suppresses any material fact, or enters any

hundred pounds.

particulars that are untrue, is liable to a fine not exceeding one

14. Every private hospital, and every part thereof, together

with the register of patients mentioned in the last preceding clause, shall at all times be open to inspection by the president of the Board
of Health, or by any person duly authorised by the Board of Health
on that behalf.

15. A private hospital shall not, during the currency of its

license, be used for any other purpose than that for which it is licensed.

16. (1) The Minister may at any time cause an inquiry to be

made as to the management of any private hospital by some person to
be appointed by him for that purpose.

(2)

(2) The person so appointed shall, for the purpose of such

inquiry, report the result of the inquiry to the Minister.

(3) The Minister may, if he thinks fit, after such inquiry,

revoke the license granted in respect of the private hospital, and, in such cases, no new license shall be granted to the person whose license

is so revoked for a period of four years from the date of such

revocation: Provided that no license shall be revoked unless the
licensee has been afforded opportunity of giving and producing
evidence at the inquiry.

17. The fact that two or more persons, not members of the occupier's family, are received and lodged in any house, building, tent,

or place in any one month, or six persons within one year, as lying-in cases, or for other medical or surgical treatment, attendance, or care,

shall be prima facie evidence that the house, building, tent, or place

is a private hospital within the meaning of this Act, whether or not it is proved that a charge is made for lying-in or for such treatment,

attendance, or care.

18. The Governor may, on the recommendation of the Board

of Health, make regulations for the licensing, management, and

inspection of private hospitals, and generally for carrying this Act into

effect, and may by such regulations impose a fine not exceeding fifty
pounds for any breach thereof. Regulations under this Act shall be published in the Gazette and shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within seven days after publication, if Parliament is in

session, and if not, then within seven days after the commencement of
the next session.

19. Any medicines to be dispensed or compounded for use in

hospitals as defined under this Act shall be so dispensed or compounded

by pharmacists registered under the Pharmacy Board of New South

Wales.

Act