The Structure & a Summary of the Act Part One – the 2003 Act Amendment of Section 299
66.Under section 299 of the 2003 Act a nurse has the power to detain certain patients for a period of up to two hours to enable a medical examination to be carried out, with an extension of one hour after the arrival of the medical practitioner, if the medical practitioner does not arrive within the first hour. Section 20 of the Act amends section 299 to clarify that a nurse will now be able to detain a patient for a maximum of 3 hours, for the purpose of enabling the carrying out of a medical examination of the patient by a medical practitioner.