# The National Health Service (Complaints) Regulations 2004, Regulation 2: Interpretation


(1) In these Regulations—
“the 1977 Act” means the National Health Service Act 1977;
“the 2003 Act” means the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003;
“complainant” in Part II means any person who makes or has made a complaint in accordance with regulation 9 to an NHS body and in Part III means any person who has made a complaint in accordance with regulation 14 or 15 to the Healthcare Commission;
“complaints manager” means the person designated in accordance with regulation 5;
“default contract” means a contract entered into under article 13 of the General Medical Services Transitional and Consequential Provisions Order 2004 ;
“disciplinary proceedings” means any procedure for disciplining employees adopted by an NHS body;
“former complaints provisions” has the meaning given in regulation 23;
“general medical services contractor” means a person who has entered into a general medical services contract with a Primary Care Trust in accordance with section 28Q of the 1977 Act;
“the Healthcare Commission” means the Commission for Healthcare, Audit and Inspection established under section 41 of the 2003 Act;
“health care professional” means a person who is a member of a profession which is regulated by a health regulatory body;
“health regulatory body” means a body mentioned in section 25(3) of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002;
“Health Service Commissioner” means the person appointed Health Service Commissioner for England in accordance with section 1 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993;
“independent provider” means a person or body, including a voluntary organisation but excluding an NHS foundation trust, which is providing services under arrangements made with an NHS body in accordance with section 16CC(2) or section 23 of the 1977 Act;
“Independent Regulator” means the Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts established under section 2 of the 2003 Act;
“NHS body” means a Strategic Health Authority, an NHS Trust which operates from premises wholly or mainly in England, a Primary Care Trust and a Special Health Authority to which section 2 of the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993 applies;
“NHS contract” has the meaning given in section 4 of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990;
“NHS foundation trust” has the meaning given in section 1 of the 2003 Act;
“patient” in regulation 8 means a person who is receiving or has received services from an NHS body or an independent provider and in regulation 15 means a person who is receiving or has received services from an NHS foundation trust;
“patients' forum” means a patients' forum established in accordance with section 15 of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002;
“primary care services” means services provided by a primary care provider;
“primary care provider” has the meaning given in paragraph (2);
“Primary Care Trust” means a body established under section 16A of the 1977 Act;
“relevant patients' forum” in relation to an NHS trust or a Primary Care Trust, means the patients' forum established for the NHS trust or Primary Care Trust;
“relevant Primary Care Trust” means, in relation to a primary care provider, the Primary Care Trust which has made arrangements with that primary care provider for the provision of primary care services;
“relevant Strategic Health Authority” means, in relation to an NHS trust or a Primary Care Trust, the Strategic Health Authority in whose area the NHS trust or Primary Care Trust wholly or mainly exercises its functions;
“staff” means any person who is employed by, or engaged to provide services to, an NHS body;
“transitional agreement” means an agreement which, by virtue of article 58 of the General Medical Services and Personal Medical Services Transitional and Consequential Provisions Order 2004, is deemed to have been made under section 28C of the 1977 Act and which has not been varied in accordance with article 59 of that Order; and
“working day” means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Good Friday or a day which is a bank holiday in England under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971.
(2) A primary care provider means—
(a) a general medical services contractor;
(b) a person who has entered into a default contract with a Primary Care Trust;
(c) a person who provides primary medical services in accordance with arrangements made either under section 28C of the 1977 Act or under a transitional agreement;
(d) a dental practitioner who is providing general dental services in accordance with arrangements made under section 35 of the 1977 Act;
(e) a dental practitioner who provides personal dental services in accordance with a pilot scheme under section 1 of the Primary Care Act 1997 ;
(f) an ophthalmic optician or an ophthalmic medical practitioner who provides general ophthalmic services in accordance with arrangements made under section 38 of the 1977 Act;
(g) a person who provides pharmaceutical services in accordance with arrangements made under section 41 of the 1977 Act; and
(h) a person who provides local pharmaceutical services in accordance with a pilot scheme under section 28 of, and Schedule 2 to, the Health and Social Care Act 2001.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2004/1768/regulation/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/national-health-service-complaints-regulations-2004/regulation-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.