Health Protection Legislation (England) Guidance 2010

Guidance on updated health protection legislation covering the recently amended Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 and new regulations made under it. This guidance is intended to explain the notification requirements on registered medical practitioners and laboratories testing human samples, as well as the health protection powers available to local authorities and justices of the peace. These duties and powers are contained within the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, as amended by the Health and Social Care Act 2008, and the regulations made under it. While this guidance attempts to describe and explain those duties and powers, it is not a substitute for consulting the legislation itself or for taking legal advice. Health protection legislation in England has been updated from 6 April 2010 to give public authorities modernised powers and duties to prevent and control risks to human health from infection or contamination, including by chemicals and radiation. The main features of the legislation are to: • extend the long-standing requirement on registered medical practitioners (RMPs) to notify the proper officer of a local authority of individual cases of specified infectious diseases (notifiable diseases) by also requiring them to notify cases of other infections or of contamination which they believe present, or could present, a significant risk to human health; • require diagnostic laboratories to notify the Health Protection Agency (HPA) of specified causative agents they identify in tests on human samples; • provide local authorities with wider, more flexible powers to deal with incidents or emergencies where infection or contamination presents, or could present, a significant risk to human health. Some powers, relating to specific circumstances, can be exercised directly by local authorities. In other circumstances, local authorities can apply to a justice of the peace (JP) for a Part 2A Order to impose restrictions or requirements to protect human health. Earlier legislation, much of it dating from the 19th century, applied only to specified infectious diseases and was based on outdated assumptions about risks to health and how society operated. The updated legislation adopts an “all hazards” approach, encompassing infection and contamination of any kind. This is consistent with the International Health Regulations 2005 through which the World Health Organization (WHO) and its member states aim to prevent the international spread of infectious diseases and contamination