Healthcare Services Act 2020 · Updated to 18 Dec 2023 · Part 3 · Special Duties of Licensees
24. Appointment of Principal Officer and Clinical Governance Officer by licensee
Last amended by an amending law of 2023.
Official textFrom Singapore Statutes Online, unchanged
Every licensee must appoint a suitably qualified individual as the licensee’s Principal Officer.
Subject to subsection (2B), every licensee that is —
authorised by a licence to provide a licensable healthcare service that is prescribed for the purposes of this section; or
granted approval to provide a specified service that is prescribed for the purposes of this section,must appoint one or more suitably qualified individuals as the licensee’s Clinical Governance Officer or Clinical Governance Officers to be responsible for the clinical and technical matters relating to the prescribed licensable healthcare service or prescribed specified service, as the case may be.
Every Clinical Governance Officer appointed under subsection (2) must perform such functions as may be prescribed in relation to the prescribed licensable healthcare service or prescribed specified service, as the case may be.
A licensee must not appoint an individual as a Clinical Governance Officer unless the Director-General has given prior written approval for the appointment of the individual.
The Director-General must not approve the appointment of an individual as a Clinical Governance Officer unless the Director-General is of the opinion that the individual is a suitable person.
For the purposes of subsections (1) and (2), an individual is a suitably qualified individual if the individual —
is a suitable person to act as the licensee’s Principal Officer or Clinical Governance Officer, as the case may be; and
possesses the qualifications, skills and competencies that are prescribed for the performance of the functions and duties of the licensee’s Principal Officer or Clinical Governance Officer, as the case may be.
For the purposes of subsection (3), different qualifications, skills and competencies may be prescribed in respect of different licensable healthcare services or different specified services.
Every licensee must, within the prescribed period, notify the Director-General of the appointment in subsection (1), and any change in the appointment.
A notification of any change in an appointment under subsection (5) must be made in the form and manner that the Director-General requires.
The licensee must ensure that —
the individual the licensee appoints as Principal Officer is suitably qualified to act as Principal Officer at all times during the term of the individual’s appointment and the term of the licensee’s licence; and
every individual the licensee appoints as Clinical Governance Officer is suitably qualified to act as Clinical Governance Officer at all times during the term of the individual’s appointment and the term of the licensee’s licence.
Where an individual appointed as the licensee’s Principal Officer or Clinical Governance Officer —
is not, or is no longer, suitable to act as Principal Officer or Clinical Governance Officer (as the case may be), the licensee must remove the individual from that individual’s appointment as Principal Officer or Clinical Governance Officer (as the case may be), and appoint another individual as Principal Officer or Clinical Governance Officer, as the case may be; or
for any other reason stops acting, or is unable to act, as Principal Officer or Clinical Governance Officer (as the case may be), the licensee must appoint another individual as Principal Officer or Clinical Governance Officer, as the case may be.
Where an individual appointed by a licensee as the licensee’s Principal Officer or Clinical Governance Officer fails to perform any function of a Principal Officer or Clinical Governance Officer (as the case may be), the Director-General may, without affecting the Director-General’s power under section 20, cancel the Director-General’s approval referred to in subsection (2B) and issue a direction to the licensee to remove and replace that individual as Principal Officer or Clinical Governance Officer (as the case may be), and the licensee must comply with that direction.
Different periods may be prescribed for the licensee —
to remove an individual from that individual’s appointment as Principal Officer or Clinical Governance Officer (as the case may be), and to appoint another individual as Principal Officer or Clinical Governance Officer, under subsection (8)(a); and
to appoint an individual as Principal Officer or Clinical Governance Officer (as the case may be) under subsection (8)(b) where the individual previously appointed as Principal Officer or Clinical Governance Officer (as the case may be) stops acting, or is unable to act, in that capacity for any reason.
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Part 3A
Advertisement of Healthcare Services
Part 4
Step-In Arrangements for Designated Licensees
Part 5
Enforcement and Monitoring Compliance
Part 6
Appeals
Part 7