Hospital And Specialist Services

Provision of Services by Minister

3.-(1 As from the appointed day, it shall be the duty of the Minister to provide throughout England and Wales, to such extent as he considers necessary to meet all reasonable requirements, accommodation and services of the following descriptions, that is to say :-
(a) hospital accommodation ;
(b) medical, nursing and other services required at or for the purposes of hospitals;
(c) the services of specialists, whether at a hospital, a health centre provided under Part III of this Act or a clinic or, if necessary on medical grounds, at the home of the patient;
and any accommodation and services provided under this section are in this Act referred to as ” hospital and specialist services”.
(2) Regulations may provide for the making and recovery by the Minister of such charges as may be prescribed-
(a) in respect of the supply, as part of the hospital and specialist services, of any appliance which is, at the request of the person supplied, of a more expensive type than the prescribed type, or in respect of the replacement or repair of any such appliance; or
(b) in respect of the replacement or repair of any appliance supplied as part of the services aforesaid, if it is determined in the prescribed manner that the replacement or repair is necessitated by lack of care on the part of the person supplied.
(3) Regulations may provide for the payment by the Minister, in such cases as may be prescribed, of travelling expenses (including the travelling expenses of a companion) incurred or to be incurred by persons for the purpose of availing themselves of hospital and specialist services.

1. Where there is provided in any hospital, as part of the hospital and specialist services, accommodation in single rooms or small wards, the Minister may make any such accommodation, which is not for the time being needed by any patient on medical grounds, available for patients who undertake, or in respect of whom an undertaking is given, to pay for the accommodation such charges, designed to cover part of the cost thereof , as may be determined in the prescribed manner, and the Minister may recover those charges.

5.-(1) If the Minister, having regard to his duty to provide hospital and specialist services, is satisfied that it is reasonable so to do, he may set aside in any hospital providing such services special accommodation for patients who undertake, or in respect of whom an undertaking is given, to pay such charges as may be determined in the prescribed manner, being charges designed to cover the whole cost of the accommodation and services provided for the patient at the hospital, including an appropriate amount in respect of overhead expenses, and the Minister may recover those charges:
Provided that nothing in this section shall prevent accommodation so set aside from being made available for any patient who urgently needs that accommodation on medical grounds and for whom suitable accommodation is not other­ wise available.

(2) The Minister may allow any medical practitioner serving, whether in an honorary or paid capacity, on the staff of a hospital providing hospital and specialist services to make arrangements for the treatment of his private patients either at that hospital or at any other such hospital, and may make available for that purpose the special accommodation aforesaid, and in that case the charges prescribed under the last foregoing subsection shall not include the cost of any services rendered by the medical practitioner, and regula­tions may prescribe the maximum charges to be made and recovered by any such medical practitioner in respect of the treatment of his private patients under this subsection.

Transfer of hospitals to the Minister

6.-(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, there shall, on the appointed day, be transferred to and vest in the Minister by virtue of this Act all interests in or attaching to premises forming part of a voluntary hospital or used for the purposes of a voluntary hospital, and in equipment, furniture or other movable property used in or in connection with such premises, being interests held immediately before the appointed day by the governing body of the hospital or by trustees solely for the purposes of that hospital, and all rights and liabilities to which any such governing body or trustees were entitled or subject immediately before the appointed day, being rights and liabilities acquired or incurred solely for the purposes of managing any such premises or property as aforesaid or other­ wise carrying on the business of the hospital or any part thereof , but not including any endowment within the meaning of the next following section or any rights or liabilities transferred under that section.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, there shall also, on the appointed day, be transferred to and vest in the Minister by virtue of this Act all hospitals vested in a local authority immediately before the appointed day, and all property and liabilities held by a local authority, or to which a local authority were subject, immediately before the appointed day, being property and liabilities held or incurred solely for the purposes of those hospitals or any of them or for the purpose of securing accommodation for persons in the area at any hospital not vested in the authority.

(3) If it appears to the Minister that, in the case of any hospital to which the foregoing provisions of this section apply, the transfer of the hospital or of the interests referred to in subsection (1) of this section will not be required for the pur­pose of providing hospital and specialist services, he may, at any time before the appointed day, serve a notice to that effect on the governing body of the hospital or, as the case may be, on the local authority in whom the hospital is vested, and thereupon the foregoing provisions of this section shall cease to apply to that hospital :
Provided that if the governing body or local authority, within such period (not being less than twenty-eight days from the service of the notice) as may be specified in the notice, serve a notice on the Minister stating that they wish the hospital or interests to be transferred to the Minister, the foregoing provisions of this section shall apply to the hospital.

(4) All property transferred to the Minister under this section shall vest in him free of any trust existing immediately before the appointed day, and the Minister may use any such property for the purpose of any of his functions under this Act, but shall so far as practicable secure that the objects for which any such property was used immediately before the appointed day are not prejudiced by the provi­sions of this section.

(5) Regulations may provide-
(a) for the apportionment, as between the Minister and the other persons concerned, of interests in premises used partly for the purposes of any hospital to which this section applies and partly for other purposes and, in the case of a leasehold interest, for the sever­ance thereof , and for vesting in the Minister and the other persons concerned the appropriate interests, and for the apportionment of rent payable in respect of any such severed lease;
(b) for the apportionment, as between the Minister and the other persons concerned, of any other periodical sums payable in respect of any transferred property or liabilities;
c) for the apportionment, as between the Minister and the other persons concerned, of liabilities incurred partly for the purposes referred to in subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section and partly for other purposes;
(d) for the transfer to and vesting in the Minister of interests held solely for the purposes of two or more voluntary hospitals to which this section applies in premises used for the purposes of those hospitals, and of property and liabilities which would, if the in­terests were held and the premises used solely for the purposes of one such hospital, be transferred to the Minister under subsection (1) of this section or appor­tioned to him under the foregoing provisions of this subsection; and
(e) for the determination by arbitration, in default of agreement, of any question arising as to any of the matters aforesaid.

(6) This section shall not apply to rights and liabilities arising under contracts for the rendering of personal services or to rights and liabilities arising under any enactment, scheme or contract providing for the payment of superannuation benefits, except superannuation benefits payable in respect of officers employed for the purposes of a voluntary hospital who have ceased to be so employed before the appointed day, but this subsection shall be without prejudice to the provisions of Part VI of this Act relating to the transfer and compensa­tion of officers and the superannuation of officers.

7.-(1) Where any voluntary hospjtal to which the last foregoing section applies is, before the appointed day, desig­nated by the Minister under this Part of this Act as a teaching hospital or is one of a group of hospitals so designated, all endowments of the hospital held immediately before the appointed day shall on that day, by virtue of this Act, be transferred to and vest in the Board of Governors constituted under the following provisions of this Part of this Act for the teaching hospital.
(2) All such endowments shall vest in the Board free of any trust existing immediately before the appointed day and shall be held by the Board on trust for such purposes relating to hospital services or to the functions of the Board under this Part of this Act with respect to research as the Board think fit, and the Board may dispose of any property comprised in those endowments and hold the proceeds thereof on trust for any of the said purposes.

(3) Where any endowment which is to be vested in a Board of Governors under the foregoing provisions of this section is, immediately before the appointed day, subject to a charge in respect of a liability which would, but for this subsection, be transferred to the Minister under the last foregoing section, that liability shall, instead of being transferred to the Minister, be transferred to the Board on the appointed day.

(4) All endowments of a voluntary hospital to which the last foregoing section applies, other than a hospital to which the foregoing provisions of this section apply, being endow­ments held immediately before the appointed day, shall on that day be transferred to and vest in the Minister by virtue of this Act free of any trust existing immediately before that day; and the Minister shall establish a fund, to be called the Hospital Endowments Fund, to which he shall transfer all such endowments :
Provided that, where an endowment is given after the passing of this Act and before the appointed day, whether to the governing body of the hospital or to trustees, upon trusts which provide either-
(a) ) for the administration of the property as a capital fund separate from the general funds of the hospital; or
(b) ) for the application of the property for some specific object distinct from the general purposes of the hospital and involving expenditure of a capital nature;
the endowment, instead of being transferred to the Minister and the Hospital Endowments Fund as aforesaid, shall on the appointed day, by virtue of this Act, be transferred to and vest in the Hospital Management Committee constituted under the following provisions of this Part of this Act for the hospital or for the group of hospitals in which it is comprised, and shall vest in that Committee free of any trust existing immediately before the appointed day, and shall be held by the Committee on trust for such purposes relating to hospital services or to the functions of the Committee under this Part of this Act with respect to research as the Committee think fit, and the Committee may dispose of any property comprised in any such endowment and hold the proceeds thereof on trust for any of the said purposes.

(5) Regulations shall provide-
(a) for the control and management of the Hospital Endowments Fund by the Minister or any person authorised to act on his behalf , and for defraying out of the Fund such expenses incurred for the pur­pose of the control and management of the Fund as may be prescribed, and for conferring on the Minister or any such person any powers required for that purpose, including powers to sell or otherwise dispose of any assets of the Fund, and for carrying the proceeds into the Fund;
(b) for enabling the Minister to apply, to such extent as may be prescribed, the assets of the Fund for discharging any liabilities transferred to him under the last foregoing section in connection with the transfer of such a voluntary hospital as is mentioned in the last foregoing subsection, or transferred to him under this section ;
(c) subject to any provision for the discharge of such liabilities, for apportioning the capital value of the Fund among the several Regional Hospital Boards and Hospital Management Committees constituted under the following provisions of this Part of this Act, in such shares as may be determined by the Minister in the prescribed manner, and for distributing the in­ come of the Fund to those Boards and Committees proportionately to those shares;
(d) for enabling the Minister, on the application of a Regional Hospital Board or Hospital Management Committee, to transfer to that Board or Committee for such purposes as may be approved by the Minister any part of the capital assets of the Fund not exceeding in value the said share of that Board or Committee, and for reducing that share accordingly.
(6) Subject to such general conditions as may be prescribed, any income received by a Regional Hospital Board or Hospital Management Committee under the last foregoing subsec­tion may be used for such purposes relating to hospital ser­vices, or to the functions of the Board or Committee under this Part of this Act with respect to research, as the Board or Committee thinks fit.
(7) Every Board of Governors and Hospital Management Committee shall, in the case of any endowment transferred to them under this section, and the Minister shall, in the case of any endowment transferred to him and the Hospital Endowments Fund under this section, secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the objects of the endowment and the observance of any conditions attaching thereto, including in particular conditions intended to preserve the memory of any person or class of persons, are not prejudiced by the provisions of this section.
(8) All rights and liabilities acquired or incurred, whether by the governing body or by trustees, solely for the purposes of managing any endowment of a voluntary hospital to which the last foregoing section of this Act applies, being rights or liabilities to which they were entitled or subject immediately before the appointed day, shall-
(a) if the hospital has before that day been designated as a teaching hospital or is one of a group of hospitals so designated, be transferred to and vest in the Board of Governors of the teaching hospital on that day by virtue of this Act;
(b) if the endowment is transferred, to and vested in a Hospital Management Committee by virtue of this Act, be transferred to and vest in that Committee on· that day by virtue of this Act;
(c) in any other case be transferred to and vest in the Minister on that day by virtue of this Act.
(9) Regulations may provide-
(a) for the apportionment of any property held by the governing body of a voluntary hospital to which this section applies partly for the purposes of that hospital and partly for other purposes, being property which would, if jt were held solely for the purposes of the hospital, constitute an endowment of that hospital, and for vesting the appropriate shares in the Minister or (in the case of a teaching hospital) the Board of Governors of that hospital, or (in the case of an endowment which would be transferred to a Hospital Management Committee) that Committee, and the other persons concerned;
(b) in connection with any such apportionment, for the severance of leases and the apportionment of rent payable in respect thereof and for the apportionment of any rights and liabilities acquired or incurred for the purpose of managing the property and of any liabilities charged thereon;
(c) in lieu of such apportionment, for the disposal of any such property and for the apportionment of the proceeds;
(d) for the apportionment of any other periodical sums payable in respect of property transferred under this section;
(e) for the transfer to the Hospital Endowments Fund of any property or sums apportioned to the Minister under the regulations;
(f) for the determination by arbitration, in default of agreement, of any question arising with respect to the
matters aforesaid.
(10) In this section the expression “endowment,” in relation to a voluntary hospital, means property held by the governing body of the hospital or by trustees solely for the purposes of that hospital, being property of the following descriptions-
(a) interests in or attaching to land other than the premises referred to in subsection (1) or subsection (5) of the last foregoing section, and in equipment, furniture or other movable property used on or in connection with such land;
(b) shares, stocks, bonds, debentures and other securities. and any other personal property held by way of an investment;
(c) money, including any credit in a banking account;
(d) rights under any bill of exchange, promissory note or gratuitous covenant for the payment of money:
Provided that an equitable interest held for the purposes of a voluntary hospital in trust property in which there are other equitable interests shall not be deemed to be an endow­ment of that hospital.
(11) Where the Minister is satisfied that any property transferred to him under subsection (2) of the last foregoing section, being property held for the purposes of a hospital vested in a local authority immediately before the appointed day, would, if the hospital had been a voluntary hospital immediately before that day, have been an endowment of that hospital within the meaning of this section, he shall-
(a) if the hospital has been designated as a teaching hospital or is one of a group of hospitals so desig­nated, transfer the property to the Board of Governors constituted under the following provisions of this Part of this Act for the teaching hospital;
(b) ) if the endowment would have been transferred to the Hospital Management Committee, transfer the property to that Committee;
(c) in any other case transfer the property to the Hospital Endowments Fund;
and the foregoing provisions of this section shall apply to the property in like manner as they apply to endowments of voluntary hospitals.

8.-(1) Where a medical or dental school is associated with any hospital to which section six of this Act applies, nothing in that section or the last foregoing section shall be taken as affecting any property or liabilities or incurred solely for the purposes of that school, and those purposes shall not be deemed to be purposes of the hospital.
(2) All property and liabilities held or incurred solely for the purposes of any such school, not being property already vested in the bodies hereafter in this section mentioned or liabilities to which those bodies are already subject, shall, on the appointed day, be transferred by virtue of this Act-
(a) ) in the case of a general medical school of the University of London or any school in the faculty of medicine of that university which is recognised for dentistry only, to the governing body of that school ;
(b) ) in the case of the Welsh National School of Medicine, to the governing body of that school ;
(c) in the case of a medical or dental school of a university other than the University of London or the University of Wales, to the governing body of the university of which the school is a part;
and shall vest in the said governing body by virtue of this Act.
(3) If any institute for the post-graduate teaching of medicine or dentistry, being an institute associated with any hospital to which section six of this Act applies, is recognised by the Minister for the purposes of this section before the appointed day, subsection (1) of this section shall apply thereto in like manner as it applies to a medical or dental school so associated, and all property and liabilities held or incurred solely for the purposes of any such institute, not being property already vested in the governing body of the institute or liabilities to which that body is already subject, shall, on the appointed day, be transferred to and vest in the governing body of the institute by virtue of this Act.

9.-(1) For the purposes of the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act relating to the transfer of property and liabilities, the expression “hospital” includes, in addition to the premises specified in the definition of the said expression contained in section seventy-nine of this Act any clinic, dispensary or out-patient department not maintained in connexion with such premises as aforesaid at which treatment by or under the direction of medical or dental practitioners is provided, not being-
(a) a clinic or out-patient department maintained by a local education authority or maintained by any other local authority for the care of expectant and nursing mothers and young children; or
( b) a clinic, out-patient department or dispensary where medical advice or treatment is ordinarily given by general medical practitioners and not by specialists;
and also includes any part of a workhouse within the meaning of the Poor Law Act, 1930, which would, if it were a separate institution, be a hospital as defined by the said section seventy-nine, but save as aforesaid does not include any premises forming part of or ancillary to any institution or undertaking of which the main purpose is not therapeutic.
(2) Where in connection with a voluntary hospital any premises are used for providing accommodation for paying patients and any profits thereby earned are made available for the benefit of the hospital, the premises shall be deemed for the purposes of this Part of this Act to form part of the hospital.
(3) Where-
(a) any premises are intended to be used for the purposes of a hospital to which section six of this Act applies but have not been so used before the appointed day, and work has been done before that day for the purpose of adapting the premises for such use;
( b) it is intended to construct on any land new buildings or works which will on completion be used for the purposes of such a hospital as aforesaid, and the work of constructing the buildings or works has commenced before the appointed day;
(c) any premises used for the purposes of such a hospital as aforesaid have been destroyed and have not been restored before the appointed day; or
(d) any premises normally used for the purposes of such a hospital as aforesaid are, owing to damage or any other cause, not so used immediately before the appointed day;
any interests in those premises or in that land or, in the case of destroyed premises, the site thereof held immediately before the appointed day by the governing body of the hospital or trustees or, as the case may be, the local authority in whom the hospital is vested, being interests held solely for the purposes of the hospital, shall be deemed for the purposes of this Part of this Act to be interests in premises forming part of the hospital.
(4) Where any premises or land normally used for other purposes are or is temporarily used immediately before the appointed day by a local authority for the purposes of a hospital, the premises or land shall not be deemed for the purposes of this Part of this Act to be a hospital or, as the case may be, to form part of a hospital.
(5) Any right under the War Damage Act, 1943, to receive a payment in respect of war damage within the meaning of that Act, held immediately before the appointed day by the governing body of a voluntary hospital or by trustees solely for the purposes of such a hospital, and any such right other than a right to receive a payment of cost of works or a temporary works payment within the meaning of that Act, held immediately before the appointed day by a local authority in whom a hospital is vested, in respect of war damage to property which before the occurrence of the damage was held for the purposes of that hospital, shall be deemed for the purposes of this Part of this Act to be a right acquired solely for the purposes of carrying on the business of the voluntary hospital or, as the case may be, a right held by the local authority solely for the purposes of the hospital vested in them:
Provided that, if the property to which the right relates was before the occurrence of the damage an endowment (within the meaning of section seven of this Act) of a voluntary hospital, the right shall for the purposes of this Part of this Act be deemed to be such an endowment.
(6) For the purposes of section fourteen of the War Damage Act, 1943 (which relates to the compulsory acquisition of partially damaged land) the transfer of any land under the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act shall not be deemed to be the compulsory acquisition thereof.
(7) Where any property was, at any time between the twenty-first day of March, nineteen hundred and forty-six, and the appointed day, held or used by such persons and for such purposes as would result, but for anything done after the said date, in the transfer of the property to the Minister or to the Board of Governors of a teaching hospital under the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act, and that property ceases to be so held or used before the appointed day, it shall nevertheless be treated for the purposes of those provisions as if it had continued to be so held or used until the appointed day, unless it is proved by a person whose interest in that property would be transferred to the Minister or Board under those provisions, that the fact that it was not so held or used immediately before the appointed day was due to something done or occurring in the ordinary course of business, and was in no way connected with the said provisions.
(8) Regulations may make such provision supplementary to or consequential on the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act relating to the transfer of property and liabilities as appears to the Minister to be necessary or expedient, and in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of this subsection, regulations may provide-
(a) for the determination by arbitration, in default of agreement, of any question arising as to whether any property or liability will be or has been transferred under the said provisions or as to the person to whom it will be or has been transferred ;
(b) ) for the amendment of documents relating to any transferred property or liabilities to such extent as appears to the Minister to be necessary for the purposes of such transfer; and
(c) for enabling pending proceedings relating to any transferred property or liabilities to be carried on.

1. Where, in the exercise of powers to purchase land conferred on him by Part VI of this Act, the Minister acquires any hospital (as defined by the last foregoing section) , whether or not carried on for profit, he may also acquire, either by agreement or compulsorily in accordance with the provisions of the Second Schedule to this Act, any equipment, furniture or other moveable property used in or in connection with the hospital premises, and the provisions of the said Schedule relating to compensation and certain other matters shall apply.

Local administration of hospital and specialist services.

11.-(1) The Minister shall by order constitute, in accordance with Part I of the Third Schedule to this Act, boards, to be called Regional Hospital Boards, for such areas as he may by order determine, for the purpose of exercising functions with respect to the administration of hospital and specialist services in those areas; and the Minister shall secure, so far as practicable, that each area is such that the provision of the said services in the area can conveniently be associated with a university having a school of medicine.
(2) The order or orders made under the foregoing subsection determining the areas for which the Regional Hospital Boards are to be constituted shall be separate from the order or orders constituting those Boards, and before making any order determining such an area, the Minister shall consult with such bodies and organisations as appear to him to be concerned.
(3) Every Regional Hospital Board shall, within such period as the Minister may by direction specify, submit to the Minister a scheme for the appointment by them of committees, to be called Hospital Management Committees, for the purpose of exercising functions with respect to the management and control of individual hospitals or groups of hospitals, other than teaching hospitals, providing hospital and specialist services in the area of the Board.
(4) The Minister may approve, with or without modifications, which may include additions or exceptions, any scheme submitted to him by a Regional Hospital Board under the last foregoing subsection, and it shall be the duty of the Board to give effect to the scheme as approved by the Minister.
(5) A Regional Hospital Board may at any time, and if directed by the Minister shall within such period as may be specified in the direction, submit a new scheme providing for the modification of the scheme in force under this section, and the last foregoing subsection shall apply to any such new scheme.
(6) A Hospital Management Committee shall be constituted in accordance with Part II of the Third Schedule to this Act.
(7) If a Regional Hospital Board fail to submit any scheme which they are required to submit within a period specified by direction of the Minister, the Minister may himself prepare a scheme and it shall have effect as if it had been submitted and approved under the foregoing provisions of this section.
(8) The Minister may, after consultation with the university concerned, by order designate as a teaching hospital any hospital or group of hospitals which appears to him to provide for any university facilities for undergraduate or post­graduate clinical teaching, and the Minister shall, in the case of any hospital or group so designated, by order constitute, in accordance with Part III of the Third Schedule to this Act, a Board of Governors for the purpose of exercising functions with respect to the administration of that hospital or group; and any group of hospitals so designated shall, as from the appointed day or the date of the designation (whichever last occurs), be deemed for the purposes of this Act to be a single hospital.
(9) Where after the appointed day-
(a) any of the areas for which Regional Hospital Boards are constituted are varied, whether or not such varia­tion involves the constitution of a new Board or the termination ,of the functions of an existing Board;
(b) ) a new scheme is made under subsection (5) of this section involving the appointment of a new Hospital Management Committee or the termination of the functions of an existing Committee or any variation in the grouping of hospitals managed by such Committees; or
(c) a new teaching hospital is designated or the designation of a teaching hospital is revoked, or any hospital is included in or excluded from a group of hospitals so designated;
the Minister may by order make provision for any supplementary and incidental matters for which it appears to him to be necessary or expedient to provide, and in particular-
(i) for the transfer and compensation of officers, and the transfer of property and liabilities;
(ii) for making a new apportionment or an adjustment, in accordance with regulations made under subsec­tion (5) of section seven of this Act, of the shares of Regional Hospital Boards and Hospital Management Committees in the capital value of the Hospital Endowments Fund; and
(iii) in a case to which paragraph (c) of this subsection applies, for requiring capital assets to be transferred from the said Fund to the Board of Governors of a teaching hospital, or, as the case may be, from any such Board to the said Fund.
(10) The supplementary provisions contained in Part IV of the Third Schedule to this Act shall have effect in relation to the various bodies constituted under this section.

12.-(1) Subject to the exercise of functions by Hospital Management Committees in accordance with the next following subsection, it shall be the duty of a Regional Hospital Board, subject to and in accordance with regulations and such directions as may be given by the Minister, generally to administer on behalf of the Minister the hospital and specialist services provided in their area, and in particular-
(a) to appoint officers required to be employed at or for the purposes of any hospital providing such ser­vices, other than a teaching hospital ;
(b) ) to maintain any premises forming part of or used in connection with any such hospital;
(c) to acquire on behalf of the Minister and to maintain equipment, furniture and other movable property required for the purposes of any such hospital.
(2) It shall be the duty of the Hospital Management Committee of any hospital or group of hospitals, subject to and in accordance with regulations and such directions as may be given by the Minister or the Regional Hospital Board, to control and manage that hospital or group of hospitals on behalf of the Board, and for that purpose to exercise on behalf of the Board such of the functions of the Board relating to that hospital or group of hospitals as may be prescribed.

(3) It shall be the duty of the Board of Governors of every teaching hospital, as from the appointed day, in accordance with regulations and such directions as may be given by the Minister, generally to manage and control the hospital on behalf of the Minister, and in particular-
(a) to provide for the university with which the hospital is associated such facilities as appear to the Minister to be required for clinical teaching and research;
(b) to appoint officers required to be employed at or for the purposes of the hospital;
(c) to maintain any premises forming part of or used in connection with the hospital ;
(d) to acquire on behalf of the Minister and to maintain equipment, furniture and other movable property required for the purposes of the hospital.

13.-(1) A Regional Hospital Board and the Board of Governors of a teaching hospital shall, notwithstanding that they are exercising functions on behalf of the Minister, and a Hospital Management Committee shall, notwithstanding that they may be exercising functions on behalf of the Regional Hospital Board, be entitled to enforce any rights acquired, and shall be liable in respect of any liabilities incurred (including liabilities in tort), in the exercise of those functions, in all respects as if the Board or Committee were acting as a principal, and all proceedings for the enforcement of such rights or liabilities, shall be brought by or against the Board or Committee in their own name.
(2) A Regional Hospital Board, Board of Governors or Hospital Management Committee shall not be entitled to claim in any proceedings any privilege of the Crown in respect of the discovery or production of documents, but this subsection shall be without prejudice to any right of the Crown to withhold or procure the withholding from production of any docu­ment on the ground that its disclosure would be contrary to the public interest.

14.-(1) All officers employed for the purposes of any hospital providing hospital and specialist services, other than a teaching hospital, shall be officers of the Regional Hospital Board for the area in which the hospital is situated, and all officers employed for the purposes of a teaching hospital shall be officers of the Board of Governors of that hospital, and the remuneration and conditions of service of all such officers shall, subject to regulations, be determined by the Regional Hospital Board or the Board of Governors, as the case may be.

(2) Regulations may make provision with respect to the appointment of such classes of the medical or dental officers employed on the staff of any such hospitals as aforesaid as may be specified in the regulations, and such regulations shall, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, provide-
(a) ) for the advertisement by the Regional Hospital Board or Board of Governors, as the case may be, of any vacancy in any office to which the regulations apply;
(b) ) for the constitution by the Regional Hospital Board or Board of Governors, as the case may be, on the occasion of each such vacancy, of an advisory appointments committee consisting-
(i) in the case of a hospital other than a teaching hospital, of persons nominated by the Regional Hospital Board · and the Hospital Management Committee of the hospital affected, respectively;
(ii) in the case of a teaching hospital, of persons nominated by the Board of Governors and the university with which the hospital is associated, respectively;
(c) for the selection by the appointments committee from the applicants of the persons considered by them to be suitable for the appointment, and for the making of the appointment, from the persons so selected, by the Regional Hospital Board or Board of Governors, as the case may be;
(d) for the payment by the Regional Hospital Board or Board of Governors, as the case may be, of the reasonable expenses of any appointments committee constituted as aforesaid.

15.-(1) If any general medical school of the university of London, or any school in the faculty of medicine of that uni­versity which is recognised for dentistry only is not incor­porated at the passing of this Act, the governing body of the school shall, within a period of six months from the passing of this Act, prepare and submit to the governing body of the said university a scheme, to take effect on the appointed day, for constituting a new governing body of the school, which shall be a body corporate with power to hold land without licence in mortmain, and for conferring powers and imposing duties on that body and otherwise for the future management and control of the school; and any such scheme shall make provision for including among the members of the new governing body persons representing the university, the teaching staff of the school, and the Beard of Governors of the teaching hospital with which the school is associated, respectively.

(2) A scheme prepared and submitted under the last fore­going subsection shall not have effect unless it has been approved by the · governing body of the said university, and the said governing body may either approve the scheme with­ out modifications or with such modifications as may be agreed between them and the governing body of the school.
(3) Any such scheme may be amended by a new scheme prepared by the governing body of any such school and sub­mitted to and approved by the governing body of the uni­versity of London.
(4) Any scheme prepared, submitted and approved under this section shall have effect notwithstanding anything in any Act of Parliament, charter, or other document affecting the constitution of the school.

Ancillary services provided by the Minister.

16.-(1) Without prejudice to the general powers and duties conferred or imposed on the Minister under the Ministry of Health Act, 1919, and the duties imposed on the Committee of the Privy Council for Medical Research under the said Act, the Minister may conduct, or assist by grants or otherwise any person to conduct, research into any matters relating to the causation, prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness or mental defectiveness.
(2) The Board of Governors of a teaching hospital and a Regional Hospital Board and a Hospital Management Committee shall have power to conduct research into any of the matters aforesaid.

1. The Minister may provide a bacteriological service, which may include the provision of laboratories, for the control of the spread of infectious diseases, and the Minister may allow persons to make use of services provided at such laboratories on such terms, including terms as to the payment of charges, as the Minister thinks fit.

2. Where the Minister has, in providing hospital and specialist services, acquired supplies of human blood for the purpose of carrying out blood transfusion, or supplies of any other substances or preparations not readily obtainable in cases of emergency, he may make arrangements for making such supplies available, on such terms, including terms as to the payment of charges, as the Minister thinks fit, to local health authorities and medical practitioners who require them in cases of emergency.