National Health Service Act 2006

[F1 6BB Prior authorisation for the purposes of section 6BA E+W

(1) A person may apply to the Secretary of State under this section for prior authorisation for the purposes of section 6BA in relation to the provision of a service (“the requested service”) to a person ordinarily resident in England (“the patient”).

(2) The requested service must be—

(a) a service which falls within section 6BA(6) and meets the requirements in paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 6BA(4), or

(b) a service that is neither the same as nor equivalent to a service that the Secretary of State, the Board or a responsible authority would make available to the patient under this Act in the circumstances of the patient's case.

(3) The Secretary of State may determine—

(a) the form in which an application under this section must be made, and

(b) the information to be provided in support of the application.

(4) The Secretary of State—

(a) must authorise the provision of the requested service if it is a service mentioned in subsection (2)(a) (but see subsection (5)), and

(b) may authorise the provision of the requested service in any case where—

(i) the requested service is necessary to treat or diagnose a medical condition of the patient, and

(ii) the duty in paragraph (a) does not apply.

(5) The duty in subsection (4)(a) does not apply if at least one of the following conditions is met—

(a) the patient will, according to a clinical evaluation, be exposed with reasonable certainty to a patient-safety risk that cannot be regarded as acceptable, taking into account the potential benefit for the patient of the requested service;

(b) the general public will be exposed with reasonable certainty to a substantial safety hazard as a result of the requested service;

(c) the requested service is to be provided by a healthcare provider that raises serious and specific concerns relating to the respect of standards and guidelines on quality of care and patient safety, including provisions on supervision, whether these standards and guidelines are laid down by laws or regulations or through accreditation systems established by the state in which the service will be provided;

(d) the Secretary of State, the Board or a responsible authority can provide to the patient a service that is the same as or equivalent to the requested service within a period of time that is medically justifiable, taking into account the patient's state of health at the time the decision under this section is made and the probable course of the medical condition to which the service relates.

(6) The matters to which the Secretary of State is to have regard in determining for the purpose of subsection (5)(d) whether the length of any delay is medically justifiable include—

(a) the patient's medical history,

(b) the extent of any pain, disability, discomfort or other suffering that is attributable to the medical condition to which the service is to relate,

(c) whether any such pain, disability, discomfort or suffering makes it impossible or extremely difficult for the patient to carry out ordinary daily tasks, and

(d) the extent to which the provision of the service would be likely to alleviate, or enable the alleviation of, the pain, disability, discomfort or suffering.

(7) Any authorisation under this section must be in writing.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Ss. 6BA, 6BB inserted (25.10.2013) by The National Health Service (Cross-Border Healthcare) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/2269), regs. 1(1), 7(2)