Western Cape Ambulance Services Act (Act 3 of 2010)
South Africa
Western Cape Ambulance Services Act
Act 3 of 2010
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Published in Western Cape Provincial Gazette no. 6806 on 1 November 2010
- Assented to on 1 November 2010
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Commenced on 1 July 2012
- [This is the version of this document from 1 November 2010.]
In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise, a word or expression defined in the National Health Act, 2003 (Act 61 of 2003), has the same meaning as in that Act, and-"ambulance personnel" means persons employed by a licensed ambulance service and registered in terms of, respectively—(a)the Health Professions Act, 1974 (Act 56 of 1974), as a medical practitioner, paramedic, ambulance emergency assistant, basic ambulance assistant, operational emergency care orderly, emergency care practitioner, emergency care technician or emergency care assistant; or(b)section 31 of the Nursing Act, 2005 (Act 33 of 2005), as a professional nurse, midwife, staff nurse, auxiliary nurse or auxiliary midwife;"ambulance service" means any service that is intended to be employed and is held out to the public as available for-(a)the emergency medical treatment, stabilisation, rescue or transportation of patients in need of emergency medical care; or(b)the transportation of patients to and from and between health establishments;"Department" means the provincial department responsible for health services in the Province;"Head of Department" means the head of the department responsible for health services in the Province;"inspecting officer" means a person designated as inspecting officer in terms of section 5;"licensed ambulance service" means an ambulance service licensed in accordance with section 3;"Minister" means the Provincial Minister responsible for health in the Province;"patient" means a person who is ill, injured, wounded or otherwise incapacitated and in need of medical care and who may require stabilisation as well as transportation;"prescribe" means prescribe by regulation;"Province" means the Province of the Western Cape;"regulation" means a regulation made in terms of section 12;"this Act" includes the regulations;"vehicle" includes any air or water-borne conveyance. This Act does not apply to—(a)an ambulance service which—(i)transports a patient from another province to a health establishment in the Province for the purposes of receiving medical attention and, after having received such attention, back to the other province; or(ii)renders assistance temporarily in the Province during a disaster as defined in section 1 of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act 57 of 2002), or at the request of the Minister or the Head of Department; or(b)an emergency centre at a health establishment. The Minister must determine minimum norms and standards for the personnel, vehicles and equipment of ambulance services, and may amend those norms and standards. A person—(a)aggrieved by a decision on an application for the licensing of an ambulance service or for the renewal of a licence; or(b)whose licence has been cancelled or suspended in terms of section 6,may appeal to the Minister in accordance with the prescribed procedure. Ambulance personnel may, in the performance of their functions, whenever they reasonably regard it as necessary or expedient in the interest of the health or well-being of any person—(a)temporarily close any road or street;(b)access or enter any premises by any reasonable means;(c)restrict access to an incident scene; or(d)cause to be removed from the scene any person who—(i)is in danger or poses a threat to himself or herself; or(ii)obstructs or hinders ambulance personnel in the performance of their duties. A person who—(a)contravenes section 3(1);(b)obstructs or hinders an inspecting officer or ambulance personnel in the performance of their duties;(c)prevents access of ambulance personnel to a person in need of emergency medical care;(d)wilfully summons a licensed ambulance service, without a valid reason for doing so;(e)impersonates any ambulance personnel; or(f)uses a vehicle on which is displayed the term "paramedic", "ambulance", "medical rescue", "medical response", "advanced life support", "intermediate life support" or "basic life support", or any other term or sign indicating that the vehicle is used for emergency medical care, unless the vehicle is owned by or is under the control of a licensed ambulance service and displays the prescribed licence token,commits an offence and is liable to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years, or to both the fine and the imprisonment. The Minister may make regulations, after consultation with the standing committee of the Provincial Parliament responsible for health, regarding—(a)any matter which may or must be prescribed in terms of this Act;(b)the management, control, supervision and operation of a licensed ambulance service;(c)the records to be kept by a licensed ambulance service;(d)the categories of vehicles of a licensed ambulance service that must display the licence token referred to in section 10(f);(e)coordination between the various licensed ambulance services;(f)the management of any incident or situation requiring the provision of emergency medical care and where more than one ambulance service is involved; or(g)any matter which the Minister considers necessary or expedient to prescribe for the effective carrying out of this Act. For a period of 12 months after the date of commencement of this Act, section 3 does not apply to a person who, immediately before that date, conducted, maintained, managed or controlled an ambulance service. This Act is called the Western Cape Ambulance Services Act, 2010, and comes into operation on a date fixed by the Premier by proclamation in the Provincial Gazette.1. Definitions
2. Application of Act
3. Licensing of ambulance services
4. Norms and standards for ambulance services
5. Inspecting officers
6. Cancellation or suspension of licences
7. Appeals
8. Fees
9. Powers of ambulance personnel
10. Offences and penalties
11. Delegation
12. Regulations
13. Transitional provisions
14. Short title and commencement