PART 1GENERAL

Citation, commencement, application and interpretation1.

(1)

This Order may be cited as the General Medical Services Transitional and Consequential Provisions (Wales) Order 2004 and shall come into force on 17th March 2004.

(2)

This Order applies only in relation to Wales.

(3)

In this Order—

“the 1983 Act” means the Medical Act 19832;
“the 1990 Act” means the National Health Service and Community Care Act 19903;
“the 1992 Regulations” means the National Health Service (General Medical Services) Regulations 19924;
“the 2004 Regulations” means the National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Wales) Regulations 20045;

“the Act” means the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003;

“additional services” has the same meaning as in the 2004 Regulations;

“the Assembly” means the National Assembly for Wales;

“bank holiday” means any day that is specified or proclaimed as a bank holiday pursuant to section 1 of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 19716;
“the Choice Regulations” means the National Health Service (Choice of Medical Practitioner) Regulations 19987;

“contractor’s list of patients” means the list prepared and maintained by the Local Health Board under the term of a general medical services contract which gives effect to paragraph 14 of Schedule 6 to the 2004 Regulations or under the equivalent term of a default contract or of contractual arrangements made under article 15;

“core hours” means the period beginning at 8am and ending at 6.30 pm on any day from Monday to Friday except Good Friday, Christmas Day or bank holidays;

“default contract” means a contract entered into under article 13 and “default contractor” shall be construed accordingly;

“essential services” means the services described in regulation 15(3), (5), (6) and (8) of the 2004 Regulations;

“FHSAA” means the Family Health Services Appeal Authority constituted under section 49S of the Act8;

“global sum” has the same meaning as in the Statement of Financial Entitlements;

“immediate family member” has the same meaning as in the 2004 Regulations;

“Local Medical Committee” means—

(a)

until 1st April 2004, a committee recognised under section 44 of the 1977 Act9, and

(b)

from that date, a committee recognised under section 45A of that Act10;
“medical list” means the list of medical practitioners undertaking to provide general medical services for persons in its area kept by a Local Health Board under regulations made under section 29(2)(a) of the 1977 Act11;
“medical performers list” means a list of medical practitioners prepared in accordance with regulations made under section 28X of the 1977 Act12;
“Medical Register” means the registers kept under section 2 of the 1983 Act13;

“out of hours period” means—

(a)

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

(b)

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

(c)

Good Friday, Christmas Day and bank holidays;

“out of hours services” means services required to be provided in all or part of the out of hours period which—

(a)

would be essential services if provided in core hours, or

(b)

are included—

  1. (i)

    in a default contract as additional services funded under article 36, or

  2. (ii)

    in a general medical services contract as additional services funded under the global sum;

“practice premises” means the addresses specified in the contract as ones at which services are to be provided under the contract;

“registered patient” means—

(a)

a person who is recorded by the Local Health Board as being on the contractor’s list of patients, or

(b)

a person whom the contractor has accepted for inclusion on its list of patients, whether or not notification of that acceptance has been received by the Local Health Board and who has not been notified by the Local Health Board as having ceased to be on that list;

“relevant service” means—

(a)

whole-time service in the armed forces of the Crown in a national emergency as a volunteer or otherwise,

(b)

compulsory whole-time service in those forces, including service resulting from any reserve liability, or

(c)

any equivalent service by a person liable for compulsory whole-time service in those forces;

“Statement of financial entitlements” has the meaning given in article 35:

“temporary resident” means a person accepted by the contractor as a temporary resident under the term of a general medical services contract which gives effect to paragraph 16 of Schedule 6 to the 2004 Regulations, or the equivalent term of a default contract, and for whom the contractor’s responsibility has not been terminated in accordance with that term;

“vacancy” means a vacancy declared by a Local Health Board under regulation 13 of the 1992 Regulations14.

(4)

In this order, the use of the term “it” in relation to the contractor shall be deemed to include a reference to a contractor that is an individual medical practitioner or two or more individuals practising in partnership and related expressions shall be construed accordingly.