National Health Act, 2003 (Act No. 61 of 2003)RegulationsProcedural Regulations Pertaining to the Functioning of the Office of Health Standards Compliance and Handling of Complaints by the OmbudChapter 6 : Compliance Notice, Enforcement and Appeal26. Formal hearing |
| (1) | Before revoking a certificate of compliance or imposing a fine, the Office must notify the person in charge of the health establishment and the relevant authority of its intention to revoke the certificate of compliance or to impose a fine, as the case may be, and initiate a hearing to allow the health establishment an opportunity to make representations, before a final decision is taken. |
| (2) | The Chief Executive Officer must appoint a suitable person to preside over the hearing contemplated in sub-regulation (1). |
| (3) | The person contemplated in sub-regulation (2) may appoint not more than 2 persons with technical expertise on the relevant subject as his or her assistants, as may be required. |
| (4) | The presiding officer must provide both the Office and the health establishment with, at least, 10 working days’ written notice to prepare for the hearing and may— |
| (a) | require written representations from both parties to be submitted to him or her, at least, 5 working days prior to the hearing; |
| (b) | allow oral testimony to be presented by the parties or any other interested person, upon application, in relation to the matter. |
| (5) | The notice of hearing referred to in sub-regulation (1) must be issued in the form of Form 8, and include, at least, the following information: |
| (a) | The date, time and place of the hearing; |
| (b) | the subject matter of the hearing; |
| (c) | the legal rights of the parties and how to exercise them; |
| (d) | the required documents, records, objects or materials, if any; and |
| (e) | the consequences of failure to attend the hearing. |
| (6) | The procedure for the conduct of the hearing contemplated in sub-regulation (1) must be determined by the person presiding at the hearing. |
| (7) | The hearing of the matter‒ |
| (a) | must be conducted expeditiously and in compliance with the principles of administrative justice, set out in the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000 (Act No. 3 of 2000); |
| (b) | may be conducted in an informal manner, consistent with paragraph (a); and |
| (c) | must be open to the public: Provided that the person presiding at the hearing may exclude members of the public, or specific persons or categories of persons, from attending the proceedings–– |
| (i) | if evidence to be presented is confidential information, but only to the extent that the information cannot otherwise be protected; |
| (ii) | if the proper conduct of the hearing requires it; or |
| (iii) | for any other reason that would be justifiable in civil proceedings in a Court. |
| (8) | At the end of the hearing, the person presiding at the hearing may recommend to the Office to revoke or not to revoke the certificate of compliance of the health establishment, or to impose a fine, as the case may be. |
| (9) | The Office must, within 10 working days after the hearing, make a decision and provide the person in charge of the health establishment and the relevant authority with written reasons for any adverse decision. |
| (10) | For the purposes of this regulation "suitable person" means a person who has extensive knowledge and experience in the administration of law and the norms and standards for the health establishments as well as the general laws and regulations applicable to the health care sector. |