The National Health Service (Service Committees and Tribunal) Amendment Regulations 1994
Citation, commencement and interpretation1.
(1)
These Regulations may be cited as the National Health Service (Service Committees and Tribunal) Amendment Regulations 1994 and shall come into force on 1st April 1994.
(2)
Amendment of regulation 5 of the principal Regulations2.
(1)
Regulation 5 of the principal Regulations (making of complaints) is amended as follows.
(2)
In paragraph (1), after “notice to the” there is inserted “appropriate”.
(3)
“(1A)
The appropriate FHSA is—
(a)
the one on whose medical, dental, ophthalmic or pharmaceutical list the name of the practitioner was included; or
(b)
where the complaint relates to the acts or omissions of a doctor when acting as deputy to another doctor, the one on whose medical list the name of that other doctor was included,
at the time of the event, treatment or matter which is the subject of the complaint, or, where the practitioner referred to in sub-paragraph (a) or other doctor referred to in sub-paragraph (b) was at that time on more than one such list the FHSA by arrangement with which the Part-II services giving rise to the complaint were provided.”
Amendment of regulation 6 of the principal Regulations3.
(1)
Regulation 6 of the principal Regulations (investigation of complaints) is amended as follows.
(2)
In paragraph (3)—
(a)
at the beginning there is inserted “Subject to paragraph 2(5) of Schedule 4”;
(b)
in sub-paragraph (a)—
(i)
“also” is omitted, and
(ii)
for “the medical list” there is substituted “a medical list”;
(c)
in sub-paragraph (b)—
(i)
for “the medical list” where it first occurs there is substituted “a medical list”, and
(ii)
“also” is omitted;
(d)
for “both doctors” there is substituted “the deputy alone”; and
(e)
after “accordingly” there is inserted “except where there are reasonable grounds for believing that the doctor for whom the deputy was acting has failed to comply with his obligations under the terms of service in relation to ensuring the provision of services to his patients, in which case the complaint shall be taken as a complaint against both doctors and investigated accordingly.”
(3)
In paragraph (6), for “the FHSA”there is substituted “an FHSA”.
Amendment of regulation 10 of the principal Regulations4.
“(3A)
Subject to paragraph (6), on an appeal which paragraph (1)(aa) applies, the Secretary of State shall determine whether there are reasonable grounds for believing that the practitioner has failed to comply with any of his terms of service; and if he determines that there are such grounds, he shall specify those terms of service in his determination.”
Amendment of regulation 11 of the principal Regulations5.
In regulation 11(14A) of the principal Regulations (procedure on appeal), “or as the case may be under paragraph 2(5B) by the appropriate committee itself,”is omitted.
Amendment to Schedule 4 to the principal Regulations6.
(1)
Schedule 4 to the principal Regulations (procedure for investigations by appropriate committees) is amended as follows.
(2)
In paragraph 2—
(a)
in sub-paragraph (1)(a), for “the medical list” there is substituted “a medical list”; and
(b)
“(4)
A complaint mentioned in regulation 6(3)(a) or (b) (complaints about deputies) shall be brought as soon as practicable before the medical service committee.
(5)
If, in the case of such a complaint, the medical service committee considers that the notice of complaint and other documents disclose reasonable grounds for believing that the doctor for whom the deputy was acting has failed to comply with his obligations under the terms of service in relation to ensuring the provision of services for his patients, the doctor shall be a party to the investigation and the provisions of these Regulations shall apply to him accordingly.
(6)
In a case to which sub-paragraph (5) applies, the medical service committee shall identify each provision of the doctor’s terms of service with which it considers he may have failed to comply, and notify the FHSA accordingly.”
(3)
In paragraph 3, for “2(5B)” in each place where it occurs there is substituted “2(6)”.
(4)
In paragraph 4(2), “2(5A)” is omitted.
(5)
In paragraph 7—
(a)
in sub-paragraph (1) “or 2(5A)” is omitted; and
(b)
“(1A)
In a case falling within paragraph 1(6A), the report shall state why the committee considers that there are no reasonable grounds for believing that the practitioner has failed to comply with his terms of service.”
(6)
“(d)
“terms of service” means, in relation to a doctor acting as deputy, the terms of service of the doctor for whom he was acting as deputy.”
Department of Health
SCHEDULEPROVISIONS CONFERRING POWERS EXERCISED IN MAKING THESE REGULATIONS
(1) | (2) |
|---|---|
Provision | Relevant amendments |
Health Services Act 19805 (“the 1980 Act”), sections 1 and 7 and Schedule 1 paragraph 42(b) Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudications Act 19836, Schedule 6, paragraph 2 Family Practitioner Committees (Consequential Modifications) Order 19856 (“the 1985 Order”), article 7(3) | |
section 367 | European Communities (Medical, Dental and Nursing Professions) (Linguistic Knowledge) Order 19818, article 3(3) Health and Social Security Act 19849 (“the 1984 Act”), Schedule 3, paragraph 5 the 1985 Order, article 7(10) Health and Medicines Act 198810, Schedule 2, paragraph 4 National Health Service and Community Care Act 199011 (“the 1990 Act”), section 24 |
section 3912 | the 1980 Act, section 1 and Schedule 1, paragraph 52 the 1984 Act, section 1(4) and Schedule 1, Part I paragraph 1 and Schedule 8, Part I the 1985 Order, article 7(12) |
section 4213 | Substituted by the National Health Service (Amendment) Act 198614, section 3(1) Pharmaceutical Qualifications (EEC Recognition) Order 1987 article 4 the 1990 Act, section 12(3) |
section 126(4) | the 1990 Act, section 65(2) |
These Regulations further amend the National Health Service (Service Committees and Tribunal) Regulations 1992 in connection with complaints against doctors, dentists, opticians or chemists providing services under Part II of the National Health Service Act 1977 that they are in breach of their terms of service.
Regulation 2 amends the 1992 Regulations to make clear that the Family Health Services Authority to which the complaint should be addressed in the one on whose list the doctor (including a doctor for when a Deputy acted), dentist, optician or chemist was at the time of the matter which is the subject of the complaint.
The remaining provisions of these Regulations amend the 1992 Regulations to provide that where a complaint is made about a deputy doctor who is himself on the list of any Family Health Services Authority, then the complaint is to be treated as being against the deputy alone, and not against the doctor for who he was acting (unless there are grounds for thinking that he had failed to ensure that a proper service for his patients was available).