Enclosure 5.
THE MEDICAL REGISTRATION BILL. The Attorney-General—I beg to move that the Council go into committee on the Medical Registration Ordinance, 1884, and I think, sir, in doing that, it will be only right, after what has passed with reference to this Bill, that I should state fully to the Council the course which it is proposed to ask the Council to take in the further progress of the Bill. Since we last met, and since we had the advantage of hearing the learned counsel who placed the case of Dr. Fisher before us at the bar, the whole of the provisions which had any bearing whatever upon the position of that gentleman, and others who might be in the same position, have been very carefully reconsidered, and as the result of that re-consideration, I have, sir, prepared a series of amendments, which are now, I think, before the Council in the form of proposed amended sections which will give effect to the intention of the Government in dealing with the measure after what has passed.
With reference to a good deal which has been said about this Bill, I think it is only right to mention the circumstances under which it originated in order that the hon. members who were not at that time members of the Council may understand how it really came to be before the Council as a legislative measure. Under the Imperial Act 21 and 22 Victoria, medical practitioners who hold licenses in England were, by virtue of those licenses, qualified, without any further registration of any kind, to practice in various British colonies. Well it was not thought right by the Imperial Government that colonies should be left without an opportunity, by legislative measures of their own, and by requiring registration within their own respective limits, protecting themselves in the same way that the mother country is protected by registration; and therefore an Act was passed, 31 and 32 Victoria, ten years after the other, by which it was provided that notwithstanding medical practitioners who have been registered in England had a right to practice throughout the British dominions, it should be competent for the different colonies to pass local registration ordinances, and that medical practitioners registered in England, and who up to that time had been able to practice without colonial or local registration, should then, starting from the date of any such local ordinance being passed, be required to be registered, as a condition of their being allowed to practice in that colony.
It was really in response to the kind of invitation held out by the passing of that Act that most of the colonies—I do not know that I can say absolutely all—but most of the colonies, from time to time since that date—since 31 and 32 Victoria was passed—have passed local registration ordinances very much of the same character as that which we now have before us. Some time ago, I think it was in 1882, a petition was presented to the Council which was, I believe, signed by the whole medical profession of this colony, the whole, at all events with one or two unimportant exceptions. The signatures appended to that petition were not only composed of the local medical practitioners of the place, but of the heads of the military service in the island, who was then, I think, Dr. Thompson; the head of the Naval medical service, who was Dr. Gordon; and several of the other naval and military medical men who were then in the colony.
And what they proposed was nothing more than that the Colonial Legislature here should adopt a Registration Ordinance of the same character as the Registration Ordinances which prevailed in other parts of the British dominions. Now, sir, with reference to what has been said, and the aspersions of personal malice and hostility by which the gentlemen of the medical profession were said to have been actuated in making such a proposal, I think it is quite enough to remind the Council of what the constitution of that body was which sent in the original petition, and what was the nature of the advantages and privileges which they desired to secure by that petition, and of the steps that were to be taken in accordance with the wording of it.
The Bill, as drafted originally, was not submitted to this Council until it had first been referred home, had been referred to the Privy Council, by the Privy Council had been referred to the General Medical Council in England, and had been reported on by that General Medical Council as the kind of draft ordinance to which they could give their approval. It then received the sanction of the home authorities as to its general drift and the nature of its provisions.
Therefore it was not hurriedly introduced, nor introduced without careful consideration, and the suggestion cannot be tolerated for a moment that it was introduced in an oppressive spirit, nor with a view to any personal action towards any member of the medical profession practising among us. The general provisions stand, and it is intended that they should stand, and it will be dealt with by the Council in committee.
The general provisions contained in the Ordinance provide first of all that medical practitioners must be registered if they wish to practice in this colony; secondly, there shall be a medical board to whom shall be referred various matters mentioned in the Ordinance; and, thirdly, that registration shall be permitted only on certain grounds stated in the Ordinance. Those general provisions are to be adhered to, and no alteration is proposed to be made in the substance of those provisions as they now stand, which are contained in sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, I think I may say almost the whole of the provisions of the bill, so far as they relate to general purposes.
There is one important change, however, which refers to the constitution of the medical board. The Bill, as it at present stands, proposes that the Medical Board shall consist of three registered medical practitioners willing to accept the appointment, who may be appointed by the Governor. That provision has been carefully reconsidered, and though it cannot be, I think, for a moment admitted that a very competent board, and a perfectly trustworthy one, might not be constituted under the terms of that section as it now stands, and though it cannot be for a moment admitted that there is any weight in the suggestion that a board of that kind cannot be trusted, yet it has been considered, after a very careful weighing of the matter, that it would be possible to constitute a stronger board, and a board to which not even a shadow of such an objection as that taken to the board as it now stands can be urged.
If there are materials in the colony for the constitution of what I may call a stronger board, that is to say, a larger board, a board in which the professional element will not have a preponderating influence, and which, therefore, will not be liable to be influenced by professional jealousy, there is no reason why it should not be adopted. It has been thought right, therefore, to propose the constitution of the board on a somewhat larger scale.
The board thus proposed will consist of seven members, of which two will be the senior naval and military medical officers for the time being, two will be local medical practitioners, and the remaining three will be gentlemen from time to time to be appointed by the Governor, who may be willing to accept the appointment. This will secure a large and considerable board which will be able to deal with all questions which may come before it while this Act is in operation.
But it is very important, with reference to certain objections which have been made on behalf of Dr. Fisher, that the constitution of the Board, at all events at the outset, and at the time—and at the only time when any professional jealousy or any unfair feeling can possibly be brought to bear upon Dr. Fisher or any other medical practitioners in the colony who may happen to be in the same position—it is of the utmost importance that the constitution of that board, at this particular time, whatever it may be in the future, and however much it may be modified in the change of the persons appointed by the Governor, should be one which will have the thorough confidence of the public.
I am therefore authorised by his Excellency to give the names of the gentlemen who will compose the Board as it will be constituted in the first instance. These gentlemen have consented to serve, and therefore, upon the passing of this Ordinance the Board will be constituted in the following manner—Hon. W. Keswick, Hon. T. Jackson, the two official members who are mentioned in the proposed constitution of the Board, that is to say, the principal military medical officer and the principal naval medical officer, the Colonial Surgeon, Mr. Henry Liston Dalrymple, and Mr. William Hartigan, who will also act as secretary of the Board.
I think the Council will agree with me that a board constituted of such members is a board in which the public and the medical profession, and every reasonable person in this colony will have every confidence—confidence in its perfect competency to deal with those professional questions which will arise in the exercise of its jurisdiction, and ...
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