The National Health Service (Charges for Drugsand Appliances) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 1995

Statutory Instruments

1995 No. 2737

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE,

ENGLAND AND WALES

The National Health Service (Charges for Drugsand Appliances) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 1995

Made

19th October 1995

Laid before Parliament

19th October 1995

Coming into force

20th October 1995

The Secretary of State for Health, in exercise of powers conferred on him by sections 77, 83A(1)(a) and 126(4) of the National Health Service Act 1977(1) and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:—

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the National Health Service (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 1995 and shall come into force on 20th October 1995.

(2) In these Regulations, “the principal Regulations” means the National Health Service (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) Regulations 1989(2).

Amendment of the principal Regulations

2.  For sub-paragraph (c) of regulation 6(1) of the principal Regulations (exemptions), there shall be substituted—

“(c) a person who has attained the age of 60 years;”.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health

Gerald Malone

Minister of State,

Department of Health

19th October 1995

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations further amend the National Health Service (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) Regulations 1989 (“the principal Regulations”) which provide for the making and recovery of charges for drugs and appliances supplied by doctors and chemists providing phamaceutical services, and by health authorities and NHS trusts to outpatients.

Regulation 2 amends the principal Regulations so that all persons who have attained the age of 60 years shall be exempt from paying charges for such drugs and appliances, whereas previously men had to have attained the age of 65.

The amendment is made in order to comply with Council Directive 79/7/EEC on the progressive implementation of the principle of equal treatment in matters of social security (OJ No. L 006, 10.1.79, p. 24).

(1)

1977 c. 49; see section 128(1), as amended by the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 (c. 19) (“the 1990 Act”), section 26(2)(g) and (i), for the definitions of “prescribed” and “regulations”; section 83A was inserted by the Social Security Act 1988 (c. 7), section 14(1) and amended by the Health and Medicines Act 1988 (c. 49) section 25(1) and Schedule 2, paragraphs 1 and 6; section 126 was amended by the 1990 Act, section 65(2).

(2)

S.I. 1989/419; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1991/579 and 1994/2402.