Submission on Draft Nursing Council Regulations
In recognising the important role entrusted to the Nursing Council (“the Council”) by the Nursing Act, 33 of 2005 (“the Act”), this submission is primarily concerned with ensuring that the process in terms of which members of the Council are appointed instills public confidence in that body. This is of particular importance given the ongoing human resources crisis facing the health sector (primarily but not exclusively in the public sector) and the need to address issues such as nurses’ scope of practice (to ensure that policies and programmes may be implemented).
If adopted in their current form, however, the draft Regulations Relating to the Nomination and Appointment of Members of the Council (“the draft regulations”) will have the opposite effect. In our view, certain aspects of the draft regulations are neither contemplated nor authorised by the Act and as such are constituionally impermissible. This submission explains what this is indeed the case.