Health Act, 1953

District medical officers.

52.—(1) There shall be a district medical officer or two or more district medical officers for a dispensary district.

(2) Save as provided by subsection (3) of this section, the office of a district medical officer shall be an office under the health authority for his district.

(3) An office of district medical officer for a dispensary district which is situated in the public assistance district of a board of assistance or a board of public assistance shall be an office under such board.

(4) An office of district medical officer to which subsection (3) of this section applies shall be deemed, for the purposes of sections 10 and 20 of the Local Government Act, 1941 (No. 23 of 1941), to be an office under a health authority whose functional area includes the whole or any part of the district of such district medical officer.

(5) Where the whole or any part of a dispensary district is situated in an urban district, an office of district medical officer for such district shall, as respects assignment of duties relating to the functions of the urban sanitary authority for such urban district, be deemed for the purposes of sections 10 and 20 of the Local Government Act, 1941 , to be an office under the urban sanitary authority for the urban district.

(6) Where, immediately before the commencement of this section, the Local Appointments Commissioners were engaged in the selection of a person or persons to be recommended for appointment to the office of medical officer of a dispensary district, such selection shall be completed in such manner as the said Commissioners shall think proper, and the person or one of the persons so selected and recommended by the Commissioners shall be appointed as district medical officer for the like district and the provisions of subsections (1) to (5) of this section shall apply in relation to him as if he had been so appointed before the commencement of this section.

(7) A reference in any enactment in force at the commencement of this section to the office of medical officer of a dispensary district or district medical officer or the holder thereof shall be construed as a reference to the office established by this section or the holder thereof (as the case may be).

(8) The following provisions shall apply in relation to a person who, as respects any district, held immediately before the commencement of this section in a permanent capacity the office of medical officer under section 41 of the Public Assistance Act, 1939 , and the office of medical officer of health under section 73 of the Principal Act:

(a) such person shall, upon the commencement of this section, become and be a district medical officer for that district;

(b) the first-mentioned offices shall, for the purposes of any enactment relating to superannuation, be deemed not to have been abolished.