National Health Service Act 1977

29 Arrangements and regulations for general medical services

(1) It is every Area Health Authority's duty, in accordance with regulations, to arrange as respects their area with medical practitioners to provide personal medical services for all persons in the area who wish to take advantage of the arrangements.

The services so provided are in this Act referred to as " general medical services ".

(2) Regulations may provide for the definition of the personal medical services to be provided and for securing that the arrangements will be such that all persons availing themselves of those services will receive adequate personal care and attendance, and the regulations shall include provision—

(a) for the preparation and publication of lists of medical practitioners who undertake to provide general medical services;

(b) for conferring a right on any person to choose, in accordance with the prescribed procedure, the medical practitioner by whom he is to be attended, subject to the consent of the practitioner so chosen and to any prescribed limit on the number of patients to be accepted by any practitioner;

(c) for the distribution among medical practitioners whose names are on the lists of any persons who have indicated a wish to obtain general medical services but who have not made any choice of medical practitioner or have been refused by the practitioner chosen ;

(d) for the issue to patients or their personal representatives by medical practitioners providing those services of such certificates as may be prescribed being certificates reasonably required by them under or for the purposes of any enactment;

(e) for the removal from the list of medical practitioners undertaking to provide general medical services for persons in any area of the name of any one in whose case it has been determined in such manner as may be prescribed that he has never provided, or has ceased to provide, such general medical services for persons in that area.

(3) Regulations under subsection (2) above may provide for the personal medical services there mentioned to include the provision of, and services connected with, any such advice, examination and treatment as are mentioned in paragraph (b) of section 5(1) above.

(4) The remuneration to be paid under the arrangements mentioned in subsection (1) above to a practitioner who provides general medical services shall not, except in special circumstances, consist wholly or mainly of a fixed salary which has no reference to the number of patients for whom he has undertaken to provide such services.