The National Health Service (Ophthalmic Services) (Wales) Regulations 2023

Factors relating to efficiency cases

17.—(1) Where a Local Health Board is considering the removal of a qualified practitioner from its combined list under section 107(2) of the Act (disqualification of practitioners) or under regulation 17(3)(d) of these Regulations, in relation to an efficiency case, it must—

(a) consider any information relating to the qualified practitioner which it has received in accordance with any provision of Part 2 of Schedule 3 or Schedule 4,

(b) check with the Welsh Ministers for, and consider, any facts that the Welsh Ministers consider relevant relating to past or current investigations or proceedings involving or relating to the qualified practitioner, and

(c) in reaching its decision, take into consideration the matters referred to in sub-paragraph (2).

(2) The matters referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(c) are—

(a) whether the continued inclusion of the qualified practitioner in the combined list would be prejudicial to the efficiency of the primary ophthalmic services—

(i) provided by the qualified practitioner, or

(ii) which the qualified practitioner assists in providing;

(b) the length of time since the last incident occurred and since any investigation into it was concluded;

(c) any action taken by any licensing, regulatory or other body, the police or the courts as a result of any such incident;

(d) the nature of the incident and whether there is a likely risk to patients;

(e) whether the qualified practitioner has previously failed to supply information, make a declaration or comply with an undertaking required by these Regulations;

(f) whether the qualified practitioner has ever failed to comply with a request by the Local Health Board to take an assessment by NHS Resolution or any of its predecessor bodies;

(g) whether the qualified practitioner has been refused admission to, conditionally included in, removed or contingently removed or is currently suspended from, a primary care list or equivalent list, and if so, the facts relating to the matter which led to such action and the reasons given by the Local Health Board or the equivalent body for such action;

(h) whether the qualified practitioner is, has in the preceding 6 months been, or was at the time of the originating events, a director of a body corporate which was refused admission to, conditionally included in, removed or contingently removed from a primary care list or equivalent list, or is currently suspended from any such list, and if so, what the facts were in each such case and the reasons given by the Local Health Board or equivalent body in each case for such action;

(i) in the case of a corporate optician, whether a person, who, at the time of the originating events, was one of its directors, has been refused admittance to, conditionally included in, removed, contingently removed or suspended from a primary care list or equivalent list and, if so, the facts relating to the matter which led to such action and the reasons given by the Local Health Board or equivalent body for such action.