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Amendment of regulation 20 (arrangements for provision of pharmaceutical services by doctors) of the principal Regulations

7.  For regulation 20 substitute—

(1) Where a patient—

(a)satisfies a Local Health Board that he or she would have serious difficulty in obtaining any necessary drugs or appliances from a pharmacy by reason of distance or inadequacy of means of communication; or

(b)is resident in a controlled locality, at a distance of more than one mile from any pharmacy, and one of the conditions specified in paragraph (2) is satisfied in his case,

he or she may at any time request in writing the doctor who is, or who is engaged or employed by, the GMS contractor on whose doctor’s list the patient is included to provide him with pharmaceutical services.

(2) The conditions referred to in paragraph (1)(b) are—

(a)that—

(i)there is in effect an outline consent granted to that doctor or to another doctor or any previous doctor in his practice in respect of the area in which the patient resides; and

(ii)any conditions imposed under regulation 12(15) or regulation 13(13)(b) in connection with that grant are such as to permit arrangements to be made under this regulation for the provision of pharmaceutical services by that doctor to the patient; or

(b)immediately before these Regulations came into force arrangements or requirements were in effect under regulations revoked by these Regulations for that doctor or his partner or any previous doctor in his practice to provide drugs or appliances to patients, and the patient—

(i)has not previously been included in a doctor’s list, or

(ii)has changed his address from that last notified to the Local Health Board, or

(iii)has not changed his address but, immediately before his acceptance as a patient by that doctor, was being provided with pharmaceutical services by a doctor pursuant to an arrangement or requirement under these Regulations.

(3) If a doctor so requested by a patient, under paragraph (1)—

(a)applies to provide pharmaceutical services to the patient, and sends with his application the patient’s request in writing, the Local Health Board shall make arrangements with him for the provision of such services by him; or

(b)does not so apply within 30 days, the Local Health Board may, subject to paragraph (5), require him to undertake such provision and shall give him notice in writing to that effect.

(4) An arrangement made by a Local Health Board under paragraph (3)(a) shall—

(a)have effect from the date of the patient’s request in writing; and

(b)enable that doctor, any other doctor in his practice or any doctor who subsequently joins his practice to provide pharmaceutical services for the patient so long as the arrangement remains in effect.

(5) A Local Health Board shall not under paragraph (3)(b) require a doctor to provide pharmaceutical services to a person on the relevant doctor’s list for that doctor if that doctor satisfies the Local Health Board, or on appeal, the Assembly that—

(a)he or she does not normally provide pharmaceutical services under this regulation; or

(b)in the case of a person to whom paragraph (1)(b) applies, the person would not have serious difficulty, by reason of distance or inadequacy of means of communication, in obtaining drugs and appliances from a pharmacy.

(6) A Local Health Board shall give a doctor reasonable notice—

(a)that it requires the doctor to provide pharmaceutical services to any person; or

(b)subject to paragraph (7), that, where a person no longer satisfies the provisions of paragraph (1), the doctor shall discontinue the provision of pharmaceutical services to that person.

(7) A notice under paragraph (6)(b)—

(a)shall be subject to any postponement or termination of arrangements for the provision of pharmaceutical services to that person by that doctor made under regulation 12(15) or 13(13); and

(b)shall not be given—

(i)pending any appeal against a decision by a Local Health Board to postpone the making or termination of such arrangements, or

(ii)where regulation 9(10) so requires.

(8) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), where a drug or appliance is one for which a doctor is entitled to an additional payment if he provides it, he may, with the consent of the patient, instead of providing it himself, order it by issuing a prescription form by electronic means or by issuing a prescription to the patient in accordance with paragraph 39 of Schedule 6 to the 2004 Regulations.

(9) Where under any provision of regulations revoked by, and not re-enacted in, these Regulations an arrangement or requirement for a doctor to provide drugs or appliances to a patient was in effect immediately before these Regulations came into force, that arrangement or requirement shall have effect as though made under this regulation notwithstanding that neither of the conditions specified in paragraph (2) is satisfied.

(10) A doctor who provides pharmaceutical services to some or all of the patients on the relevant doctor’s list in accordance with this regulation may provide any necessary pharmaceutical services to a person whom he has accepted as a temporary resident under the 2004 Regulations.

(11) An appeal under paragraph (5) shall be made in writing within 30 days from the date on which notice of the decision was sent to the doctor and shall contain a concise statement of the grounds of appeal.

(12) The Assembly shall, on receipt of any notice of appeal under this regulation, send a copy of that notice to the Local Health Board and the relevant GMS contractor and the Local Health Board and relevant GMS contractor may, within 30 days from the date on which the Assembly sent a copy of the notice of appeal, make representations in writing to it.

(13) The Assembly may determine an appeal pursuant to paragraph (5) in such manner as he thinks fit.

(14) The Assembly shall, upon determination by it of an appeal under this regulation, give notice of its decision in writing, together with the reasons for it, to the appellant, to the Local Health Board and to the relevant GMS contractor.

(15)  Any question whether a substance provided by a doctor was a drug, the provisions of which formed part of pharmaceutical services under the Act, shall be determined in accordance with regulation 36 of the Medical Regulations and the provisions of that regulation shall apply according as though references to—

(a)the doctor who ordered the substance were to the doctor who provided it; and

(b)the person to whom the order was given were to the person to whom the substance was provided.

(16) In this section—

“relevant doctor’s list” means the doctor’s list for that doctor where he or she is a party to a GMS contract or, where he or she is not such a party, means the list for the party to the GMS contract by whom he or she is engaged or employed,

“relevant GMS contractor” means the GMS contractor by whom the doctor is employed or engaged..