Charges for Drugs and Appliances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“Agency” means the Northern Ireland Central Services Agency for the Health and Social Services established under Article 26 of the Order;

“accepted disablement” means physical or mental injury or disease which is accepted by the Secretary of State as attributable to or aggravated by service in the armed forces of the Crown or such other service as he may determine;

“appliance” means a listed appliance within the meaning of Article 63 of the Order(1) but does not include a contraceptive appliance;

“Board” means a Health and Social Services Board;

“chemist” includes any person, other than a doctor, providing pharmaceutical services;

“doctor” means a fully registered person within the meaning of the Medical Act 1983(2);

“drugs” includes medicines, but does not include contraceptive substances;

“elastic hosiery” means an above-knee, below-knee or thigh stocking;

“exemption” means any remission granted under these Regulations from charges payable under these Regulations;

“exemption certificate” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 8(1);

“medical list” means the list of doctors prepared under regulation 4 of the General Medical Services Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997(3);

“the Order” means the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972;

“patient” means—

(a)

any person for whose treatment a doctor is responsible under his terms of service;

(b)

any person who applies to a chemist for the provision of pharmaceutical services including a person who applies on behalf of another person; or

(c)

a person who pays or undertakes to pay on behalf of another person a charge for which these Regulations provide;

“pre-payment certificate” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 9(1);

“prescription form” means a form provided by the Agency on which the provision of pharmaceutical services may be ordered by—

(a)

a doctor or dental practitioner under the provisions of their terms of service; or

(b)

a nurse or health visitor of a description specified in paragraph (2),

and which contains on its reverse side a form of declaration of entitlement to exemption;

“qualifying full-time education” means full-time instruction at a recognised educational establishment or by other means accepted as comparable by the Department, and “recognised educational establishment” means an establishment recognised by the Department as being, or as comparable to, a school, college or university;

“terms of service” means—

(a)

in relation to doctors, the terms of service contained or referred to in Schedule 2 to the General Medical Services Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997 and Schedule 2 to the Pharmaceutical Services Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997(4);

(b)

in relation to chemists, the terms of service contained or referred to in Schedule 2 to the Pharmaceutical Services Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997; and

(c)

in relation to dental practitioners, the terms of service contained or referred to in Schedule 2 to the Health and Personal Social Services General Dental Services Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993(5);

“the Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges Regulations” means the Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1989(6); and

“treatment” includes examination and diagnosis.

(2) The specified description of nurse or health visitor mentioned in the definition of “prescription form” in paragraph (1) is—

(a) a person who—

(i) is registered in Part 1 or 12 of the Register maintained by the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting under section 10 of the Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act 1979(7) (referred to in this paragraph as “the professional register”); and

(ii) has a district nursing qualification additionally recorded in the professional register under rule 11 of the Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Rules 1983(8); and

(iii) is at the time of ordering the listed drug or medicine or appliance, employed by a Board or an HSS Trust as a district nurse, or employed as a nurse by a fund-holding practice whose recognition as such by virtue of Article 17 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1991(9) (recognition of fundholding practices of doctors) has taken effect; or

(b) a person who—

(i) is registered in Part 11 of the professional register as a health visitor; and

(ii) is, at the time of ordering the drug or medicine or appliance, employed by a Board or an HSS Trust as a health visitor, or employed as a nurse by a fund-holding practice whose recognition as such by virtue of Article 17 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 has taken effect; and

against whose name (in each case) is recorded in the professional register an annotation signifying that he is qualified to order drugs, medicines and appliances for patients.

(3) For the purposes of these Regulations the supply against an order on one prescription form—

(a) of quantities of the same drug in more than one container shall be treated as the supply of only one quantity of a drug;

(b) of more than one appliance of the same type, except in the case of elastic hosiery and tights, or of 2 or more component parts of the same appliance shall be treated as the supply of only one appliance.

(1)

Article 63(1) and (4) was substituted by Article 14 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 (S.I. 1978/1907 (N.I. 26)); Article 63(1) was amended by Article 31(1)(a) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (S.I. 1991/194 (N.I. 1)

(2)

1983 c. 54

(3)

S.R. 1997 No. 380

(4)

S.R. 1997 No. 381

(5)

S.R. 1993 No. 326; to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations

(6)

S.R. 1989 No. 348; relevant amending Regulations are S.R. 1993 No. 161, S.R. 1995 No. 138 and S.R. 1996 No. 107

(7)

1979 c. 36; the Parts of the professional register are determined by S.I. 1983/667, amended by S.I. 1989/104 and 1989/1455

(8)

Approved by S.I. 1983/873, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations

(9)

S.I. 1991/194 (N.I. 1)