Section 204 — Data Protection Act 2018: Meaning of “health professional” and “social work professional”

Meaning of “health professional” and “social work professional” 204 1 In this Act, “ health professional ” means any of the following—

a a registered medical practitioner;

b a registered nurse or midwife;

c a registered dentist within the meaning of the Dentists Act 1984 (see section 53 of that Act);

d a registered dispensing optician or a registered optometrist within the meaning of the Opticians Act 1989 (see section 36 of that Act);

e a registered osteopath with the meaning of the Osteopaths Act 1993 (see section 41 of that Act);

f a registered chiropractor within the meaning of the Chiropractors Act 1994 (see section 43 of that Act);

g a person registered as a member of a profession to which the Health ... Professions Order 2001 (S.I. 2002/254) for the time being extends; ... h a registered pharmacist or a registered pharmacy technician within the meaning of the Pharmacy Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/231) (see article 3 of that Order);

i a registered person within the meaning of the Pharmacy (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 (S.I. 1976/1213 (N.I. 22)) (see Article 2 of that Order);

j a child psychotherapist;

k a scientist employed by a health service body as head of a department. l a person registered under the Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates Order 2024.

2 In this Act, “ social work professional ” means any of the following—

a a person registered as a social worker in the register maintained by Social Work England under section 39(1) of the Children and Social Work Act 2017;

b a person registered as a social worker in the register maintained by Social Care Wales under section 80 of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 (anaw 2);

c a person registered as a social worker in the register maintained by the Scottish Social Services Council under section 44 of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (asp 8);

d a person registered as a social worker in the register maintained by the Northern Ireland Social Care Council under section 3 of the Health and Personal Social Services Act (Northern Ireland) 2001 (c. 3 (N.I.)).

3 In subsection (1)(a) “ registered medical practitioner ” includes a person who is provisionally registered under section 15 or 21 of the Medical Act 1983 and is engaged in such employment as is mentioned in subsection (3) of that section.

4 In subsection (1)(k) “ health service body ” means any of the following—

a the Secretary of State in relation to the exercise of functions under section 2A or 2B of, or paragraph 7C, 8 or 12 of Schedule 1 to, the National Health Service Act 2006;

b a local authority in relation to the exercise of functions under section 2B or 111 of, or any of paragraphs 1 to 7B or 13 of Schedule 1 to, the National Health Service Act 2006;

c a National Health Service trust first established under section 25 of the National Health Service Act 2006;

d a Special Health Authority established under section 28 of the National Health Service Act 2006;

e an NHS foundation trust;

f the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence;

g NHS England;

h a National Health Service trust first established under section 5 of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990;

i a Local Health Board established under section 11 of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006;

j a National Health Service trust first established under section 18 of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006;

k a Special Health Authority established under section 22 of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006;

l a Health Board within the meaning of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978;

m a Special Health Board within the meaning of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978;

n a National Health Service trust first established under section 12A of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978;

o the managers of a State Hospital provided under section 102 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978;

p . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . q a special health and social care agency established under the Health and Personal Social Services (Special Agencies) (Northern Ireland) Order 1990 (S.I. 1990/247 (N.I. 3));

r a Health and Social Care trust established under Article 10 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (S.I. 1991/194 (N.I. 1)).