The Act - Commentary on Sections Part 5 – Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service and former Women’s Royal Naval Service
131.Nursing services for the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines are provided by Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service (QARNNS). Until 31 March 2000, QARNNS was a separate Service from the Royal Navy. Although QARNNS personnel had already adopted the Royal Navy's badge and rank structure, and Royal Naval terms and conditions of service, one consequence of their being a separate Service was that they had no reserve liability - once they had left the Service they could not be recalled to duty in time of crisis. In order to provide this reserve liability, QARNNS was incorporated into the Royal Navy on 1 April 2000. This was similar to the incorporation of the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) into the Royal Navy in 1993, the only difference being that QARNNS became the nursing branch of the Royal Navy and retained the 'QARNNS' name in the title of that branch. Personnel who were already in QARNNS before 1 April 2000 have preserved rights to their original terms of service.
132.Because of the incorporation of QARNNS into the Royal Navy, most references in legislation to the QARNNS were redundant. Paragraphs 23 to 30 amend the legislation containing such references. They remove references to the QARNNS in the armed forces' legislation and in other Acts. They also remove certain obsolete references to the WRNS.