General Medical Services Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997

Services to patients

13.—(1) Subject to paragraphs 2, 16 and 49, a doctor shall render to his patients all necessary and appropriate personal medical services of the type usually provided by general practitioners.

(2) The services which a doctor is required by sub-paragraph (1) to render shall include the following—

(a) giving advice, where appropriate, to a patient in connection with the patient’s general health and, in particular, about the significance of diet, exercise, the use of tobacco, the consumption of alcohol and the misuse of drugs or solvents;

(b) offering to patients consultation and, where appropriate, physical examination for the purpose of identifying, or reducing the risk of, disease or injury;

(c) offering to patients, where appropriate, vaccination or immunisation against measles, mumps, rubella, pertussis, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, tetanus and haemophilus influenzae type b;

(d) arranging for the referral of patients, as appropriate, for the provision of any other health services under the Order;

(e) giving advice, as appropriate, to enable patients to avail themselves of personal social services provided under the Order.

(3) A doctor is not required by sub-paragraph (1) or (2)—

(a) to provide to any person child health surveillance services, contraceptive services, minor surgery services nor, except in an emergency, maternity medical services unless he has previously undertaken to the Board to provide such services to that person; or

(b) where he is a restricted services principal, to provide any category of general medical services which he has not undertaken to provide.

(4) If a woman requires treatment immediately owing to an obstetric emergency, it shall be the duty of any doctor whose name is included in the obstetric list in whose practice area the emergency arises, who is summoned and is available or at whose surgery the woman attends and such a doctor is available, to give any treatment immediately necessary, unless a doctor who has undertaken to provide maternity medical services for her or his partner, deputy or assistant is available, and treatment under this sub-paragraph shall be given without charge unless she is not entitled to receive maternity medical services.

(5) Any charge made by a doctor in respect of treatment provided under sub-paragraph (4) shall be in accordance with any determination which may be made by the Department under regulation 37(2)(c).

(6) The treatment referred to in sub-paragraph (4) shall be given whether or not the woman is able to produce evidence of her entitlement to maternity medical services.