S.I. No. 236/1941 - Hospitals Commission (Dublin Hospitals Bureau) Regulations, 1941.

STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS. 1941. No. 236.

HOSPITALS COMMISSION (DUBLIN HOSPITALS BUREAU) REGULATIONS, 1941.

WHEREAS in pursuance of sub-section (1) of Section 2 of the Public Hospitals (Amendment) Act, 1940 , the Hospitals Commission did on the 30th day of October, 1940, resolve to establish and maintain in relation to certain hospitals in the County Borough and County of Dublin a bureau under and for the purposes of the said Act :

AND WHEREAS the Minister for Local Government and Public Health did by instrument under his official seal bearing date the 9th day of November, 1940, consent to the establishment and maintenance of such bureau in relation to the said hospitals, being the hospitals the names of which are set out in the schedule to the said instrument :

NOW WE, the Hospitals Commission, in exercise of the powers vested in us by sub-section (3) of Section 2 of the said Public Hospitals (Amendment) Act, 1940 , after consultation with the advisory committee established in respect of the said bureau and with the approval of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, do hereby make the following regulations, that is to say :—

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Hospitals Commission (Dublin Hospitals Bureau) Regulations, 1941.

2. In these Regulations— —

the expression " the Bureau " means the bureau established by the Hospitals Commission on the 30th day of October, 1940, as hereinbefore recited under the Public Hospitals (Amendment) Act, 1940 ;

the expression " participating hospital " means a hospital which is one of the hospitals in relation to which the Bureau is established, being one of those mentioned in the schedule to the instrument of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health dated the 9th day of November, 1940, consenting to the establishment and maintenance of the Bureau.

3.—(1) The Bureau shall, during the period commencing on the 3rd day of June, 1941, and ending on the 30th day of June, 1941, be open for the discharge of its functions between the hours of seven o'clock in the forenoon and eleven o'clock in the afternoon and upon the expiration of such period shall be open for the discharge of its functions at all hours of the day and night.

(2) The Bureau shall keep, in a convenient and suitable form, records of the beds in every participating hospital which have been notified to them by the governing body of every such participating hospital in accordance with these Regulations as being vacant and available for the reception of patients therein.

(3) The governing body of a participating hospital shall cause to be kept records of the accommodation which is for the time being vacant and available for the accommodation of patients in such hospital in such form and manner as to ensure that information as to such accommodation can be readily furnished to the Bureau as required by these Regulations.

4.—(1) The Bureau shall, upon application being made to it for the purpose by a medical practitioner or other interested person, take all such steps as may be necessary to secure the admission of a patient requiring hospital treatment to a participating hospital either by making application directly to such hospital for that purpose and reserving accommodation therein, if available, or by affording information to such medical practitioner or other interested person of the accommodation available for such patient in a participating hospital or hospitals, as to the Bureau shall seem proper.

(2) The Bureau shall, in taking steps to secure the admission of a patient to a participating hospital, have regard to any preference for accommodation in a particular participating hospital or hospitals expressed to the Bureau by such patient or in the case of a child, by its parents or legal guardian, or in default of any such preference being so expressed, then by the medical attendant of such patient or child.

(3) The Bureau shall not, except in case of sudden emergency, make application directly to a participating hospital to secure the admission of a patient thereto unless the Bureau is satisfied by the statement, either oral or written, of a medical practitioner that such patient is a person requiring hospital treatment.

(4) Where accommodation has been reserved by the Bureau for a specified person in a participating hospital, the governing body of the hospital, shall, unless the Bureau, in the meantime, notify the hospital that the accommodation is no longer required, cause such accommodation to be kept in readiness and available for such person for such period as the Bureau may specify, not exceeding however, in the case of a person resident in the City or County of Dublin, eight hours, and, in the case of a person resident elsewhere, twenty-four hours, from the time at which such person is expected to arrive at the hospital, as notified by the Bureau to the Hospital.

(5) Nothing in these Regulations contained shall be construed to require the Bureau to reserve accommodation for a person in a participating hospital, if such person is a person for whose admission to a suitable hospital provision can be made by a local authority.

(6) The power of the Bureau under this Regulation in regard to the reservation of accommodation in a participating hospital shall not with respect to the participating hospitals named in the first column of the schedule to these Regulations, extend to beds, identified, if necessary, as required by the Bureau, to the numbers set forth in the fourth column of the said schedule in the wards or rooms of such hospitals described in the second column of the said schedule.

5.—(1) The governing body of every participating hospital shall cause to be furnished to the Bureau on request to be made by the Bureau, on such days and at such times as may be agreed upon between such governing body and the Bureau, or, in default of agreement, as may be determined by the Bureau, and at any time when so demanded by the Bureau, particulars of the number of the beds in such hospital which are vacant and available for the accommodation of patients, classified in such manner as may be agreed upon between the Bureau and such governing body.

(2) The governing body of a participating hospital shall, where the total number of beds of a particular class in the hospital which have been notified to the Bureau under sub-article (1) of this Regulation as being vacant and available for the accommodation of patients falls to two, cause the Bureau to be informed forthwith of the fact.

6.—(1) Where accommodation has been reserved by the Bureau under these Regulations for a person in a participating hospital the governing body of such hospital shall cause such person, on duly presenting himself for admission at the hopsital within the period specified by the Bureau under these Regulations, to be admitted thereto and there to be accommodated until discharged therefrom in accordance with this Regulation.

(2) A person admitted to a participating hospital under this Regulation shall not be discharged therefrom by the governing body of such hospital save upon the advice of the member of the medical staff of the hospital, to whom the medical care of the patient is or would ordinarily be assigned.

(3) Nothing in this Regulation contained shall be construed to require the admission of a person suffering from an acute infectious or contagious disease to a participating hospital which is not a hospital for the reception of cases of infectious or contagious disease ; nor the admission of a woman in labour for the purposes of confinement to a participating hospital which is not a maternity hospital ; nor the admission to or the retention in a participating hospital of a person suffering from a disease or in a condition, which, in the opinion of the member of the medical staff of the hospital to whom the medical care of the person would be or is ordinarily assigned, renders such person medically unsuitable for admission to or retention in the hospital.

7. The governing body of every participating hospital shall cause to be kept a register of all persons who have presented themselvesat the hospital for admission to accommodation which has been reserved for them by the Bureau under these Regulations, which shall contain the following particulars :—

(1) Name and home address of the person presenting himself for admission to the hospital ;

(2) Date and time at which the person presented himself for admission to the hospital ;

(3) Date and time of admission of person, if admitted ;

(4) Date and time of discharge of person from hospital and reasons therefor ;

(5) Date and time of refusal of admission of person, if admission refused ; and

(6) If admission of person was refused, a statement of the reasons for refusal of admission.

8. The governing body of a participating hospital shall give all such instructions and directions to the persons concerned in the management of the hospital and the responsible officers thereof as may be necessary to secure compliance with the provisions of these Regulations.

9. These Regulations shall not, save as otherwise expressed herein, be deemed to affect or restrict the powers of the governing body of a participating hospital in relation to the admission of patients.

Given under our hands this twenty-eighth day of May, 1941.

(Signed) MICHAEL W. DORAN (Chairman),

MICHAEL KILROY,

EDWARD KELLY,

SÉAMUS Ó CEALLAIGH,

LIAM O'DOHERTY,

J. A. MADDEN.

A. F. COONEY, Secretary.

The Minister for Local Government and Public Health hereby approves of the foregoing regulations.

Given under the Official Seal of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health this Twenty-ninth day of May, 1941.

(Signed) PATRICK RUTTLEDGE,

Minister for Local Government and

Public Health.

SCHEDULE.

REFERRED TO IN SUB-ARTICLE (6) OF ARTICLE 4 OF THE HOSPITALS COMMISSION (DUBLIN HOSPITALS BUREAU) REGULATIONS, 1941.

SCHEDULE.

REFERRED TO IN SUB-ARTICLE (6) OF ARTICLE 4 OF THE HOSPITALS COMMISSION (DUBLIN HOSPITALS BUREAU) REGULATIONS, 1941.