Medical Act 1858
Encyclopedia
The Medical Act 1858 was a British Act of Parliament which created the General Medical Council
to regulate doctors in the UK
.
Describing its purpose, the act notes that "it is expedient that Persons requiring Medical Aid should be enabled to distinguish qualified from unqualified Practitioners".
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The act has now been almost entirely repealed. The current law governing medical regulation is the Medical Act 1983.
It stated that under the Poor Law
system Boards of Guardians could only employ those qualified in medicine and surgery as Poor Law Doctors.
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).
General Medical Council
The General Medical Council registers and regulates doctors practising in the United Kingdom. It has the power to revoke or restrict a doctor's registration if it deems them unfit to practise...
to regulate doctors in the UK
History of medical regulation in the UK
The aim of medical regulation is to ensure that medicine is only practised by qualified and suitable people. The history of regulating doctors in the UK dates back around 600 years. The earliest licensing procedures were administered by the Church, with professional associations and universities...
.
Describing its purpose, the act notes that "it is expedient that Persons requiring Medical Aid should be enabled to distinguish qualified from unqualified Practitioners".
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The act has now been almost entirely repealed. The current law governing medical regulation is the Medical Act 1983.
It stated that under the Poor Law
English Poor Laws
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws before being codified in 1587–98...
system Boards of Guardians could only employ those qualified in medicine and surgery as Poor Law Doctors.
Under a clause in the Act that recognized doctors with foreign degrees practising in Britain, Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Blackwell was the first female doctor in the United States and the first on the UK Medical Register...
was able to become the first woman to have her name entered on the Medical Register (1 January 1859).