Medical Act 1858

Medical Act 1858
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to Regulate the Qualifications of Practitioners in Medicine and Surgery.
Citation21 & 22 Vict. c. 90
Dates
Royal assent2 August 1858
Other legislation
Amended by
Status: Partially repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Medical Act 1858 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Medical Act[1] (21 & 22 Vict. c. 90), An Act to Regulate the Qualifications of Practitioners in Medicine and Surgery, also referred to as the Medical Act 1858,[2][3][4] was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the General Medical Council to regulate doctors in the UK.

It is one of the Medical Acts.[5]

Describing its purpose, the Act notes that "it is expedient that Persons requiring Medical Aid should be enabled to distinguish qualified from unqualified Practitioners".[6]

The Act creates the position of Registrar of the General Medical Council — an office still in existence today — whose duty is to keep up-to-date records of those registered to practise medicine and to make them publicly available.

The Act has now been almost entirely repealed.[7] The current law governing medical regulation is the Medical Act 1983.[8]

It stated that under the Poor Law system Boards of Guardians could only employ those qualified in medicine and surgery as Poor Law Doctors.[9]

Under a clause in the Act that recognized doctors with foreign degrees practising in Britain, Elizabeth Blackwell was able to become the first woman to have her name entered on the Medical Register (1 January 1859).[10]

The act also enabled the Royal College of Surgeons of England to be given a new charter allowing them conduct dental examinations.[11]

  1. ^ The citation of this Act by this short title is authorised by section 1 of this Act.
  2. ^ Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1977, Sch. 1 Pt. XVII
  3. ^ Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1986, s. 1(1), Sch. 1 Pt. VIII
  4. ^ "Policy Navigator". The General Medical Council.
  5. ^ The Short Titles Act 1896, section 2(1) and Schedule 2
  6. ^ Text of the Medical Act 1858 as originally enacted or made within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
  7. ^ Text of the Medical Act 1858 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
  8. ^ "UK primary legislation: Medical Act 1983". General Medical Council. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  9. ^ "The Poor Law". Archived from the original on 4 May 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  10. ^ Elston, M. A. (2004). "Blackwell, Elizabeth (1821–1910)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
  11. ^ "Legislation". King's College London Archives & Special Collections. Retrieved 7 February 2022.