The National Health Service (Fund-Holding Practices) (Scotland) Regulations 1997

CONTINUING RECOGNITION

Conditions for continuing recognition

6.  Subject to the provisions of Part IV (removal of recognition) of these Regulations the members of a standard fund-holding practice, a primary care purchasing practice or a purchasing co-operative (as the case may be) shall continue to be entitled to recognition as such if and for so long as the conditions specified in Schedule 2 are fulfilled in relation to such a practice.

Additions to existing fund-holding practices

7.—(1) Where a medical practitioner (whether or not he is a member of another fund-holding practice) wishes to become a member of an existing fund-holding practice then, except in the circumstances specified in paragraph (2), he and the members of the existing fund-holding practice shall apply to the relevant Health Board for recognition as a fund-holding practice in accordance with regulation 2.

(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a medical practitioner who becomes a partner of a member of a fund-holding practice whether in succession to another medical practitioner who has died or has left the practice, or otherwise as a result of the grant of an application made by the medical practitioner to a Health Board under section 20(1) of the Act(1) to be included in the list of names of medical practitioners undertaking to provide general medical services in the area of such a Board and that application has been granted.

(3) A medical practitioner who becomes a partner of a member of a fund-holding practice in the circumstances described in paragraph (2) shall, as from the date on which he becomes such a partner be a member of that fund-holding practice notwithstanding that he did not participate in the making of an application under regulation 2.

(4) Where a person becomes a member of a fund-holding practice and paragraph (2) applies, the practice shall forthwith give written notice to the relevant Health Board of the fact, the date on which he became a partner, the name of the new member and shall send to that Board a copy of any Agreement entered into with the new member for the purposes of paragraph 4 of Schedule 1.

Withdrawal or death of a member of a fund-holding practice

8.—(1) Where a member of a fund-holding practice retires or dies, the recognition of the remaining members of the fund-holding practice shall not be affected if the conditions specified in Schedule 2 in relation to the kind of practice in question continue to be fulfilled in relation to the practice.

(2) Where a member of a fund-holding practice withdraws from the fund-holding practice in circumstances other than death or retirement, the remaining members of the practice shall give notice to the Health Board stating the date on which the withdrawal is to take or took effect and paragraphs (3) to (6) shall apply.

(3) Where the remaining members of the fund-holding practice or one or more members who withdraw from the fund-holding practice wish to continue as a recognised fund-holding practice, they shall apply to the Health Board for recognition as a fund-holding practice in accordance with regulation 2, and in those circumstances–

(a) where all the medical practitioners making the application have been members of a recognised fund-holding practice for at least one year, paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 shall not apply;

(b) subject to regulation 14, they shall continue to be recognised or, as the case may be, shall be treated as recognised until the application is determined; and

(c) if, as a result, there is more than one recognised fund-holding practice, the allotted sum of the original fund-holding practice shall be divided between them in proportions calculated by reference to the respective list sizes of the members of the practices.

(4) A member of a fund-holding practice who is a partner of another member of the fund-holding practice may not withdraw from the fund-holding practice unless he also ceases to be a partner of that other member.

(5) Where a member of a fund-holding practice (in this paragraph, and in paragraph (6) referred to as “the former member”) withdraws from the practice and–

(a) he continues to be included in the medical list of the Health Board, and

(b) on the date on which the withdrawal takes effect, there are savings in the fund-holding account,

such proportion of those savings as the remaining members of the fund-holding practice and the former member may agree (or where they do not agree, a proportion calculated by reference to their respective list sizes) shall be transferred to the Health Board.

(6) The Health Board shall apply that part of the savings transferred to it as mentioned in paragraph (5) in accordance with regulation 22 (savings from the allotted sum) for such purposes as the former member of the fund-holding practice may require, until such time as he ceases to retain responsibility for at least half the patients who were on his list at the time of his withdrawal from the fund-holding practice.

Application for change in status of recognised fund-holding practice

9.—(1) A primary care purchasing practice may apply to become a standard fund-holding practice and a standard fund-holding practice may apply to become a primary care purchasing practice.

(2) A purchasing co-operative may not apply to become a standard fund-holding practice or a primary care purchasing practice and neither a standard fund-holding practice nor a primary care purchasing practice may apply to become a purchasing co-operative.

(3) In this regulation, an application under paragraph (1) is referred to as an “application for change in fund-holding status”.

(4) An application for change in fund-holding status to take effect from 1st April in any year shall be made by 30th September in the preceding year or, in the case of an application from a standard fund-holding practice to become a primary care purchasing practice, such later date as the Health Board may agree.

(5) Regulation 2 (except for paragraph (4)), and regulations 3 and 4 shall apply to an application for change in fund-holding status as they apply to an application for recognition as a fund-holding practice but as if the references in those regulations–

(a) to an application were references to an application for change in fund-holding status; and

(b) to the grant or refusal of recognition were references to the grant or refusal of an application for change in fund-holding status.

(1)

1978 c. 29; section 20 was amended by the Health Services Act 1980 (c. 50), Schedule 6, paragraph 3 and Schedule 7 and by S.I. 1981/432, article 4(1).