General Medical Services Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997

Doctors' lists

18.—(1) In respect of each doctor whose name is included in the medical list, the Agency shall prepare and keep up to date a list of the patients accepted by or assigned to the doctor under this Part, otherwise than as temporary residents.

(2) The Agency shall, from time to time, give each doctor whose name is included in the medical list the information described in Part V of Schedule 3 with regard to persons included in or removed from his list.

(3) Subject to regulation 21(7), a person accepted by a doctor for inclusion in his list shall be included in that list from the date on which notification of such acceptance is received by the Agency.

(4) Where a person for whose treatment a doctor is responsible dies, or is absent from the United Kingdom for a period of more than 3 months, he shall be removed from the doctor’s list from the date on which the Agency first receives notification of the death or that the absence has exceeded 3 months.

(5) Where a person for whose treatment a doctor is responsible—

(a) leaves the United Kingdom with the intention of being away for a period of at least 3 months;

(b) is enlisted in Her Majesty’s forces;

(c) is serving a sentence of imprisonment of more than 2 years or sentences totalling in the aggregate more than that period at a prison or young offenders centre,

he shall be removed from the doctor’s list from the date on which the Agency first receives notification of the departure, enlistment or imprisonment.

(6) Any removal of a person from a doctor’s list caused by the transfer of a person to the list of another doctor, otherwise than in pursuance of a notice under regulation 21(7) or (10), shall take effect—

(a) from the date on which the Agency receives notification of the acceptance of the person by the last-named doctor for inclusion in his list; or

(b) subject to the consent of the Agency, from such date, being not earlier than the date of that consent, as may be agreed between the doctors.

(7) Where a doctor has requested the Agency to remove a person from his list in accordance with paragraph 9 of Schedule 2, the removal shall take effect from the date mentioned in that paragraph.

(8) Where a doctor has requested the Agency to remove a person from his list with immediate effect in accordance with paragraph 10 of the terms of service—

(a) such removal shall take effect at the time mentioned in sub-paragraph (3) of that paragraph; and

(b) on receipt of the notification mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) of that paragraph, the Agency shall—

(i) in writing, acknowledge it and also give notice of the removal to the person concerned; and

(ii) take all reasonable steps to assign the person to another doctor before the end of the next working day, or as soon as possible thereafter, and regulation 20 shall apply to such an assignment as if the person had applied for an assignment in accordance with that regulation but as if the word “still” were omitted from paragraph (4) of that regulation.

(9) Any other removal of a person from a doctor’s list shall take effect from the date on which the notice is sent by the Agency to the doctor or from such other date, not being earlier than that date, as may be agreed between the Agency and the doctor.