Cap 165 - Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Maternity Homes Registration Ordinance 1

Chapter: 165 Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Maternity Homes
Registration Ordinance

Gazette Number Version Date


Long title E.R. 2 of 2012 02/08/2012


To provide for the registration and inspection of hospitals, nursing homes and maternity homes and for purposes
connected therewith.

(Amended 17 of 1966 s. 2)


[1 January 1937]

(Originally 48 of 1936 (Cap 165 1950))

(*Format changes—E.R. 2 of 2012)
__________________________________________________________________________
Note:
* The format of the Ordinance has been updated to the current legislative styles.

Section: 1 Short title E.R. 2 of 2012 02/08/2012


This Ordinance may be cited as the Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Maternity Homes Registration Ordinance.
(Amended 17 of 1966 s. 4)


Section: 2 Interpretation E.R. 1 of 2013 25/04/2013


(1) In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires-
Director (署長) means the Director of Health; (Replaced 68 of 1990 s. 24)
hospital (醫院) means any establishment for the care of the sick, injured or infirm or those who require medical

treatment, including a nursing home, but does not include any hospital maintained by the Government, any
military hospital or any public hospital within the meaning of the Hospital Authority Ordinance (Cap 113);
(Amended 68 of 1990 s. 24; 2 of 2012 s. 3)

maternity home (留產院) means any premises used or intended to be used for the reception of pregnant women or of
women immediately after childbirth, but does not include any maternity home maintained by the Government,
any maternity home of the Hong Kong Garrison or any maternity home run as part of a public hospital within the
meaning of the Hospital Authority Ordinance (Cap 113) or any maternity home managed or controlled by the
Hospital Authority established under that Ordinance; (Amended 84 of 1992 s. 2; 2 of 2012 s. 3)

register (註冊) and registration (註冊) mean register and registration under this Ordinance;
registered midwife (註冊助產士) means a woman who is registered or deemed to have been registered as a midwife

under or in accordance with section 8 of the Midwives Registration Ordinance (Cap 162);
registered nurse (註冊護士) means a nurse whose name appears in Part I of the register of nurses maintained in

accordance with section 5 of the Nurses Registration Ordinance (Cap 164);
student midwife (見習助產士) means a person who is a student midwife for the purposes of the Midwives

(Registration and Disciplinary Procedure) Regulation (Cap 162 sub. leg. C). (Added 9 of 2002 s. 5)
(2) In relation to any premises used or intended to be used solely for the reception of, and the provision of nursing

for, a class of patients in whose case the requisite nursing can be suitably and adequately provided by nurses of a
class whose names are contained in some part of the register of nurses maintained in accordance with section 5
of the Nurses Registration Ordinance (Cap 164) other than Part I of that register, references in the definition
registered nurse (註冊護士) to Part I of the register of nurses shall be construed as including references to that
other part of the register.

(Replaced 17 of 1966 s. 5. Amended 9 of 2002 s. 5; E.R. 2 of 2012; E.R. 1 of 2013)




Cap 165 - Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Maternity Homes Registration Ordinance 2

Section: 3 Registration of hospitals and maternity homes E.R. 2 of 2012 02/08/2012


(1) If any person carries on a hospital or a maternity home without being duly registered in respect thereof, he shall
be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine at level 1, or in the case of a second
or subsequent offence, to a fine at level 1 and imprisonment for 3 months. (Amended 22 of 1950 Schedule; 17
of 1966 s. 3)

(2) Application for registration shall be made to the Director in writing in a form prescribed by him. Where the
applicant desires registration of premises as a hospital and as a maternity home separate forms shall be used.
(Amended 17 of 1966 ss. 3 & 6; L.N. 76 of 1989)

(3) Every application for registration shall be accompanied by the appropriate fee specified in the Schedule, whether
a hospital or a maternity home or both a hospital and a maternity home will be carried on in the premises to
which the application refers. (Added 17 of 1966 s. 6. Amended 62 of 1989 s. 2)

(3A) The Legislative Council may, by resolution, amend the Schedule. (Added 62 of 1989 s. 2. Amended 9 of 2002 s.
5)

(4) Subject as provided in this Ordinance, the Director shall on receipt of an application for registration, register the
applicant in respect of the hospital or maternity home named in the application, subject to such conditions
relating to the accommodation, staffing or equipment thereof as he thinks fit, and issue to the applicant a
certificate of registration, in which such conditions shall be set forth: (Amended 17 of 1966 s. 6)
Provided that the Director may refuse to register the applicant if he is satisfied-
(a) that the applicant or any person employed by him at the hospital or maternity home is not a fit person to

carry on or to be employed at a hospital or maternity home of such a description as the hospital or maternity
home named in the application; or (Replaced 17 of 1966 s. 6)

(b) that for reasons connected with situation, construction, accommodation, staffing or equipment the hospital
or maternity home, or any premises used in connection therewith, is or are not fit to be used for or in
connection with a hospital or maternity home of such a description as the hospital or maternity home named
in the application, or that the hospital or maternity home, or any premises used in connection therewith, is
or are used or to be used for purposes which are in any way improper or undesirable in the case of such a
hospital or maternity home; or (Replaced 17 of 1966 s. 6)

(c) in the case of a hospital, that the hospital is not under the charge of a person who is either a duly qualified
medical practitioner or a registered nurse and who is resident in the hospital, or that there is not a proper
proportion of registered nurses among the persons having the superintendence of or employed in the
nursing of the patients in the hospital; or (Replaced 17 of 1966 s. 6)

(d) in the case of a maternity home, that the person having the superintendence of the nursing of the patients in
the home is not a registered midwife, or that any person employed in attending any woman in the home in
childbirth or in nursing any patient in the home is not either a duly qualified medical practitioner, a
registered midwife, or a student midwife or that there is not a proper proportion of registered midwives or
student midwives among the persons having the superintendence of or employed in the attendance on or
nursing of the patients in the home. (Amended 17 of 1966 s. 6; 9 of 2002 s. 5)

(5) The current certificate of registration issued in respect of a hospital or maternity home shall be kept affixed in a
conspicuous place in the hospital or maternity home, and, if default is made in complying with the foregoing
requirement, the person carrying on the hospital or maternity home shall be guilty of an offence. (Amended 7 of
1966 ss. 3 & 6)

(6) Subject to the provisions of section 4, registration shall be valid until the end of the year in which it is made.
Every person registered in respect of a hospital or maternity home who desires to continue to be so registered for
any subsequent year shall make application in the month of December for re-registration and shall pay the fee
prescribed by subsection (3). (Amended 17 of 1966 ss. 3 & 6)

(7) (a) Any person registered in respect of a hospital or maternity home who is aggrieved by a condition imposed
by the Director under subsection (4) may appeal by way of petition to the Chief Executive in Council.

(b) On any such appeal, the Chief Executive in Council may confirm, vary or reverse the decision of the
Director. (Added 17 of 1966 s. 6. Amended 37 of 2000 s. 3)

(Amended E.R. 2 of 2012)
[cf. 1927 c. 38 s. 1 U. K.]





Cap 165 - Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Maternity Homes Registration Ordinance 3

Section: 4 Cancellation of registration E.R. 2 of 2012 02/08/2012


Subject to the provisions of this Ordinance, the Director may at any time cancel the registration of a person in respect
of any hospital or maternity home-

(a) on any ground which would entitle him to refuse an application for the registration of that person in respect
of that hospital or maternity home;

(b) in the event of a contravention of any condition imposed by the Director under section 3(4); or
(c) if such person, or any other person, has been convicted of an offence against this Ordinance in respect of the

hospital or maternity home.
(Replaced 17 of 1966 s. 7)

[cf. 1927 c. 38 s. 2 U.K.]

Section: 5 Notice of refusal or of cancellation of registration E.R. 2 of 2012 02/08/2012


(1) Before making an order refusing an application for registration or an order cancelling any registration the
Director shall give to the applicant or to the person registered, as the case may be, not less than 14 days' notice of
his intention to make such an order, and every such notice shall state the grounds on which he intends to make
the order and shall contain an intimation that, if within 14 days after the receipt of the notice the applicant or
person registered informs him in writing that he desires so to do, he will, before making the order, give him (in
person or by a representative) an opportunity of showing cause why the order should not be made.

(2) If the Director, after giving the applicant or the person registered (if under the provisions of subsection (1) he is
entitled so to do) an opportunity of showing cause as aforesaid, decides to refuse the application for registration
or to cancel the registration, he shall make an order to that effect and shall send a copy of the order by registered
post to the applicant or the person registered.

(3) Any person aggrieved by an order refusing an application for registration or cancelling any registration may,
within 14 days after the date on which the copy of the order was sent to him, appeal against it by way of petition
to the Chief Executive in Council. (Amended 17 of 1966 s. 8; 37 of 2000 s. 3)

(4) No such order shall come into force until the expiration of 14 days from the date on which it was made, or,
where notice of appeal is given against it, until the appeal has been decided or withdrawn.

[cf. 1927 c. 38 s. 3 U.K.]

Section: 6 Regulations E.R. 2 of 2012 02/08/2012


(1) The Director may by regulation provide for- (Amended 84 of 1992 s. 3)
(a) records to be kept of patients received into a hospital or maternity home, and, in the case of a maternity

home, of any miscarriages or still-births occurring in the home, and of the children born therein and of the
children so born who are removed from the home otherwise than to the custody or care of any parent,
guardian or relative; (Amended 17 of 1966 s. 3)

(b) notification to be given of any death occurring in a hospital or maternity home. (Amended 17 of 1966 s. 3;
84 of 1992 s. 3)

(c) (Repealed 84 of 1992 s. 3)
(2) The Chief Executive in Council may by regulation provide- (Amended 37 of 2000 s. 3)

(a) that the contravention of any regulation under subsection (1) or a specified provision of any such regulation,
is an offence;

(b) a penalty, not exceeding $1000, for any such offence; and
(c) if such offence is a continuing offence, an additional penalty not exceeding $50 for each day on which the

offence has continued. (Added 84 of 1992 s. 3)
[cf. 1927 c. 38 s. 4 U.K.]


Section: 7 Inspection of nursing homes E.R. 2 of 2012 02/08/2012


Remarks:
For the saving and transitional provisions relating to the amendments made by the Resolution of the Legislative
Council (L.N. 130 of 2007), see paragraph (12) of that Resolution.



Cap 165 - Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Maternity Homes Registration Ordinance 4


(1) The Director, any medical officer appointed by the Chief Executive as a health officer, any officer for the time

being performing the duties of a health officer or some person duly authorized by the Director may, subject to
such regulations as may be made by the Secretary for Food and Health, at all reasonable times enter and inspect
any premises which are used, or which that officer or person has reasonable cause to believe to be used, for the
purposes of a hospital or maternity home and to inspect any records required to be kept in accordance with the
provisions of the Ordinance. (Amended 17 of 1966 s. 9; 84 of 1992 s. 4; 37 of 2000 s. 3; L.N. 106 of 2002; L.N.
130 of 2007)

(2) If any person refuses to allow any such officer to enter or inspect any such premises as aforesaid or to inspect
any such records as aforesaid, or obstructs any such officer in the execution of his powers under this section he
shall be guilty of an offence.

[cf. 1927 c. 38 s. 5 U.K.]

Section: 8 Penalty for offences against Ordinance and provision as to

offences by companies
E.R. 2 of 2012 02/08/2012



(1) If any person is guilty of an offence against this Ordinance (other than an offence in respect of which some other
penalty is specifically provided by this Ordinance) he shall in respect of each offence be liable on summary
conviction to a fine at level 1, and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine of $50 in respect of each
day on which the offence continues after conviction. (Amended 22 of 1950 Schedule; 17 of 1966 s. 11)

(2) Where a person convicted of an offence against this Ordinance is a company, the chairman and every director of
the company and every officer of the company concerned in the management thereof shall be guilty of the like
offence, unless he proves that the act constituting the offence took place without his knowledge or consent.

(Amended E.R. 2 of 2012)
[cf. 1927 c. 38 s. 8 U.K.]


Schedule: Schedule E.R. 2 of 2012 02/08/2012


[section 3(3) & (3A)]


Fees




Item Particular Fee
$

1. For first registration of a hospital or maternity home ....................................... 6815
2. For subsequent registration of a hospital or maternity home ............................ 900

(Added 62 of 1989 s. 3. Amended L.N. 584 of 1994)