Singapore legislation
Section 58
Section 58
Unfitness to practise through illness, etc.
(1)
Where a Health Committee determines that a registered allied health professional’s fitness to practise is impaired by reason of his or her physical or mental condition, the Health Committee may exercise one or more of the following powers:
order that his or her registration in the appropriate register be suspended for such period not exceeding 12 months as may be specified in the order;
where the registered allied health professional is an allied health professional with full registration, order the Registrar to remove his or her name from the Register of Allied Health Professionals with Full Registration and register him or her as an allied health professional with restricted or conditional registration in the prescribed allied health profession in which he or she is registered and with appropriate restrictions or conditions, and section 17(2) and (3) or 18(4) to (9) (as the case may be) applies accordingly;
where the registered allied health professional is registered in any register other than the Register of Allied Health Professionals with Full Registration, order that appropriate conditions or restrictions be imposed on his or her registration;
recommend to the Council that the name of the registered allied health professional be removed from the appropriate register;
order that he or she pays to the Council costs and expenses of and incidental to any inquiry or hearing by the Health Committee and, where applicable, an Interim Orders Committee.
(2)
Where the Council accepts the recommendation of the Health Committee under subsection (1)(d), the Council must by order direct the Registrar to remove the name of the registered allied health professional from the appropriate register and that order takes effect from the date the order is made.
(3)
Where a registered allied health professional, in respect of whom an order under subsection (1)(b) or (c) or section 61(1)(b) or 63(1)(d) is made, is determined by a Health Committee to have failed to comply with any of the requirements imposed on him or her as conditions or restrictions of his or her registration, the Health Committee may, if it thinks fit, order that his or her registration in the appropriate register be suspended for such period not exceeding 12 months as may be specified in the order.
(4)
Where a Health Committee has made an order for suspension under subsection (1) or (3), the Health Committee may make an order under subsection (1)(b) or (c), to take effect from the expiry of the current period of suspension.
(5)
Where a Health Committee has made an order for suspension under subsection (1) or (3) against a person and that person has failed to comply with that order, the Health Committee may, if it thinks fit —
make a recommendation mentioned in subsection (1)(d) to the Council, and subsection (2) applies accordingly; or
make an order under subsection (1)(b) or (c), to take effect from the expiry of the current period of suspension.
(6)
Where a Health Committee has made an order under subsection (1)(b) or (c), the Health Committee or another Health Committee appointed in its place may, on its own motion or on the application of the Council or the registered allied health professional, revoke the order or revoke or vary any of the conditions or restrictions imposed by the order.
(7)
An application under subsection (6) must not be made in respect of the same registered allied health professional more than once in any period of 12 months.
(8)
Subsection (3) applies to a registered allied health professional whose registration is subject to conditions or restrictions imposed by an order made under subsection (4) or (5)(b) as it applies to a registered allied health professional whose registration is subject to conditions or restrictions imposed by an order made under subsection (1)(b) or (c), and subsection (5) applies accordingly.
(9)
Where a Health Committee has made an order (including a revocation of the order or a revocation or variation of any condition or restriction imposed by the order) under this section, the Registrar must immediately serve on the person to whom the order applies a notice of the order or of the revocation or variation.
(10)
While a person’s registration in a register is suspended by virtue of this section, the person is to be treated as not being registered in the register even though his or her name still appears in it, but immediately on the expiry of the order of suspension, his or her rights and privileges as a registered allied health professional are revived as from the date of the expiry provided that the registered allied health professional has complied with all the terms of the order.
(11)
Sections 50(11), (12), (13) and (14)(a) and 51 apply, with the necessary modifications, to a Health Committee and references to a Disciplinary Tribunal are to be read as references to a Health Committee.
(12)
Any person who is aggrieved by an order (including a revocation of the order or a revocation or variation of any condition or restriction imposed by the order) made under this section may, within 30 days after the service on the person of the notice of the order, appeal to the Minister whose decision is final.
(13)
Any order (including a revocation of the order or a revocation or variation of any condition or restriction imposed by the order) made under this section takes effect from the date the order, revocation or variation is made unless the Minister decides otherwise.