Provision of Health Services to Persons not Ordinarily Resident Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Interpretation N.I.

2.—(1) In these Regulations —

[F1 “authorised child” means a child who has either been granted leave to enter the United Kingdom with his parent for the purpose of the parent obtaining a course of treatment in respect of which no charges are payable under regulation 8A or is the child of an authorised companion;

“authorised companion” means a person who has been granted leave to enter the United Kingdom to accompany a person who is obtaining a course of treatment in respect of which no charges are payable under regulation 8A;]

[F2 “Board” means the Regional Health and Social Care Board established under section 7 of the Health and Social Care (Reform) Act (Northern Ireland) 2009]

“child” means a person who is —

(a)

under the age of 16; or

(b)

under the age of 19 and treated for the purposes of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992(1) or Part IX of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992(2) as receiving full-time education at an educational establishment under those Acts;

“Continental Shelf”, except in a reference to a designated area of the Continental Shelf, means the sea-bed and subsoil of the submarine area (other than in the Baltic or Mediterranean Seas, including the Adriatic and the Aegean, or the Black Sea) adjacent to the coasts, lying north of the latitude of 25 degrees north and between the longitude of 30 degrees west and 35 degrees east, of the territory (including islands) of —

(a)

any country situated on the Continent of Europe; or

(b)

the Republic of Ireland,

where the submarine area is outside the seaward limits of the territorial limits of those countries and the Republic of Ireland and is an area with respect to which the exercise by any of them of sovereign rights in accordance with international law is recognised by Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom;

“designated area of the Continental Shelf” means any area which is for the time being designated by an Order in Council under the Continental Shelf Act 1964(3) as an area within which the rights of the United Kingdom with respect to the sea-bed and subsoil and their natural resources may be exercised;

[F3 Directive 2011/24/EU” means Directive 2011/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9th March 2011 on the application of patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare;]

“the EC Regulations” means regulations made by the Council of the European Communities under Article 51 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community;

[F3 “GMS Contracts Regulations” means the Health and Personal Social Services (General Medical Services Contracts) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004;]

“member of the family”, in relation to a national of a member State or a stateless person or refugee entitled to receive treatment by virtue of the EC Regulations, means a member of the family as defined for the purpose of those regulations(4);

“member State” means a State which is a Contracting Party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area(5);

“the Order” means the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972;

[F3 “out of hours period” means—

(a)

the period beginning at 6.30pm on any day from, and including, Monday to Thursday and ending at 8am on the following day;

(b)

the period between 6.30pm on, and including, Friday and 8am on the following Monday; and

(c)

any public holiday or local holiday agreed with the Board;

and “part” of an out of hours period means any part of any one or more of the periods described in paragraphs (a) to (c);]

[F3 “Personal Dental Services” means dental services of a kind that may be provided by a general dental practitioner in accordance with Part VI of the Order;

“Primary Medical Services” means services of a kind that may be provided by a general medical practitioner in accordance with arrangements under Article 57A of the Order;]

“reciprocal agreement” means arrangements mutually agreed between the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom for providing health care;

“refugee” means a person who is a refugee within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 1951(6) and Article 1 of the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees 1967(7) and any other person taking refuge in the territory of a member State with leave of the Government of that State;

“services forming part of health services” means accommodation, services and other facilities provided under Article 5 of the Order (the Department’s duty to provide accommodation and medical services, etc) and includes accommodation, services and other facilities provided by a HSS Trust, but does not include any accommodation, service or facility made available or provided under—

(a)

Article 31 of the Order (accommodation and services for private patients);

(b)

Article 3(2) of the Health and Medicines (Northern Ireland) Order 1988(8) (powers to make more income available for improving health services); or

(c)

paragraph 14 of Schedule 3 to the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1991(9) (accommodation and services for private patients of HSS Trusts);

“ship or vessel” includes hovercraft;

“stateless person” has the meaning assigned in Article 1 of the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons 1954(10);

“treatment” includes medical, dental and nursing services required for the care of women who are pregnant or in childbirth or for the prevention or diagnosis of illness;

“treatment the need for which arose during the visit” means diagnosis of symptoms or signs occurring for the first time after the visitor’s arrival in the United Kingdom and any other treatment which, in the opinion of a medical practitioner or dental practitioner employed by, or under contract with, a Board or a HSS Trust, is required promptly for a condition which arose after the visitor’s arrival in the United Kingdom, or became, or but for treatment would likely to become, acutely exacerbated after such arrival;

[F3 “visiting patient” means an individual for whom a member State other than the United Kingdom is the member State of Affiliation within the meaning of Article 3(c) of Directive 2011/24/EU;]

“visitor” means a person not ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland.

(2) In calculating, for any purpose of any provision of these Regulations, a period of residence in Northern Ireland, any interruption by reason of temporary absence of not more than three months shall be disregarded.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in reg. 2 inserted (6.10.2008) by Provision of Health Services to Persons not Ordinarily Resident (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 (revoked) 2008 (S.R. 2008/377), regs. 1(1), 2

F2 Words in reg. 2 substituted (27.12.2013) by Provision of Health Services to Persons not Ordinarily Resident (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013 (revoked) 2013 (S.R. 2013/302), regs. 1(1), 2(b)

F3 Words in reg. 2 inserted (27.12.2013) by Provision of Health Services to Persons not Ordinarily Resident (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013 (revoked) 2013 (S.R. 2013/302), regs. 1(1), 2(a)

Commencement Information

I1 Reg. 2 in operation at 10.1.2006, see reg. 1

(1)

1992 c. 7

(2)

1992 c. 4

(3)

1964 c. 29

(4)

See Article 1(f) of Council Regulation No. 1408/71, OJ No. L149/2, 5.7.71 (OJ/SE 1971 (II) p.416) and Council Regulation No. 1390/81, OJ No. 143, 12.5.81

(5)

See the European Economic Area Act 1993 (c. 51)

(6)

Cmnd. 9171 of 1954

(7)

Cmnd. 3906 of 1968

(8)

S.I. 1988/2249 (N.I. 24)

(9)

S.I. 1991/194 (N.I. 1)

(10)

Cmnd. 1098 of 1960