Explanatory note

These Regulations amend the National Health Service (General Medical Services) Regulations 1992 (“the principal Regulations”), which regulate the terms on which general medical services are provided under the National Health Service Act 1977.

Regulation 4 of these Regulations inserts a new regulation 12A (re-advertisement of vacancies) into the principal Regulations. This enables Family Health Services Authorities (FHSAs) to give further notice of a vacancy for a doctor to provide general medical services where fewer than 20 applications have been received in connection with the vacancy. The number of further notices which may be given in respect of any vacancy is limited to 3. Further notices are required to be in the same terms as the original notice except for the closing date and the inclusion of a statement that all applications received in response to the first notice or any further notice will automatically be considered for the vacancy. A further notice must be given within 28 days of the closing date included in the immediately preceding notice and be published in such manner as appears to the FHSA to be likely to bring the vacancy to the attention of doctors within and outside its locality.

Regulation 5 of these Regulations inserts new paragraphs (2A) and (2B) into regulation 13 of the principal Regulations (selection of applicants). Paragraph (2A) prohibits FHSAs from beginning their selection until after they have resolved to give no more notices or, as the case may be, 3 further notices have been given, and the closing date of the last notice has passed. Paragraph (2B) prohibits FHSAs, when making their selection, from taking into account the order in which the applications were received or the fact that an application was received in response to one notice rather than another.

Regulations 2 and 3 of these Regulations make consequential amendments, and regulation 3(b) also corrects an error in the principal Regulations.

Regulations 6 to 8 of these Regulations also make provision for FHSAs to remove a person from a doctor’s list of patients with immediate effect where requested to do so by a doctor as a result of an act of actual or threatened violence. The doctor is to remain responsible for immediately necessary treatment for a period of 14 days or until the person is transferred to the list of another doctor, if that happens sooner.

Regulation 8 also provides that where a doctor engages as a deputy another doctor who is himself on the medical list of any FHSA, that deputy alone is responsible under the terms of service contained in Schedule 2 to the principal Regulations for his acts and omissions and those of any person employed by him or acting on his behalf.