2 lay members were appointed by the Privy Council, 2 by the Board of Education and 5 by the Minister of Health.
Four or five were members of the Royal British Nurses' Association, including Mrs Ethel Bedford-Fenwick and 9 from the College of Nursing, Including Alicia Lloyd-Still, matron of St. Thomas' Hospital.
[1] It was decided that practicing nurses could be admitted to the register, which was opened in November 1921, if they had at least one year's training, and that they must apply by 14 July 1923.
In June 1923, as the deadline for existing nurses to register approached, the House of Commons agreed a rule change proposed by William Chapple which permitted applicants to the general register to be admitted if they had worked as a nurse for at least three years before 1 November 1919.
In 1925 the first state examination was held and 4,005 nurses were admitted to the register by passing it.