OpenLegislation

Paragraph 4 A doctor’s patients

Changes not yet applied. Later legislation changes this provision in ways not yet written into the text below:

(1)

Subject to sub-paragraph (2) and to paragraphs 9, 10 and 11, a doctor’s patients are—

(a)

persons who are recorded by the FHSA as being on his list;

(b)

persons whom he has accepted or agreed to accept on his list, whether or not notification of that acceptance has been received by the FHSA, and who have not been notified to him by the FHSA as having ceased to be on his list;

(c)

for the limited period specified in sub-paragraph (4), persons whom he has refused to accept;

(d)

persons who have been assigned to him under regulation 21;

(e)

for the limited period specified in sub-paragraph (5), persons in respect of whom he has been notified that an application has been made for assignment to him in a case to which regulation 21(3)(b) applies;

(f)

persons whom he has accepted as temporary residents;

(g)

in respect of services under paragraph 8, persons to whom he has agreed to provide those services;

(h)

persons to whom he may be requested to give treatment which is immediately required owing to an accident or other emergency at any place in his practice area, provided that—

(i)

he is not, at time of the request, relieved of liability to give treatment under paragraph 5, and

(ii)

he is not, at the time of the request, relieved, under paragraph 19(2), of his obligation to give treatment personally, and

(iii)

he is available to provide such treatment,

and any persons by whom he is requested, and agrees, to give treatment which is immediately required owing to an accident or other emergency at any place in the locality of any FHSA in whose medical list he is included, provided there is no doctor who, at the time of the request, is under an obligation otherwise than under this head to give treatment to that person, or there is such a doctor but, after being requested to attend, he is unable to attend and give treatment immediately required;

(i)

persons in relation to whom he is acting as deputy for another doctor under these terms of service;

(j)

during the period of an appointment under regulation 25, persons whom he has been appointed to treat temporarily;

(k)

in respect of child health surveillance services, contraceptive services, maternity medical services, or minor surgery services persons for whom he has undertaken to provide such services; and

(l)

during the hours arranged with the FHSA, any person whose own doctor has been relieved of responsibility during those hours under paragraph 19 and for whom he has accepted responsibility under that paragraph.

(2)

Except in a case to which head (h), (i) or (j) of sub-paragraph (1) applies, no person shall be a patient for the purposes of that sub-paragraph if the doctor has been notified by the FHSA that he is no longer responsible for the treatment of that person.

(3)

Where a person applies to a doctor for treatment and claims to be on that doctor’s list, but fails to produce his medical card on request and the doctor has reasonable doubts about that person’s claim, the doctor shall give any necessary treatment and shall be entitled to demand and accept a fee accordingly under paragraph 38(f), subject to the provision for repayment contained in paragraph 39.

(4)

Where a doctor refuses to accept for inclusion on his list a person who lives in his practice area and who is not on the list of another doctor practising in that area, or refuses to accept as a temporary resident a person to whom regulation 26 applies, he shall on request give that person any immediately necessary treatment for one period not exceeding 14 days from the date when that person was refused acceptance or until that person has been accepted by or assigned to another doctor, whichever period is the shorter.

(5)

Where the FSHA has notified a doctor that it is applying for the Secretary of State’s consent under regulation 21(3)(b), the doctor shall give the person proposed for assignment any immediately necessary treatment until the FHSA has notified him that—

(a)

the Secretary of State has determined whether or not the person is to be assigned to that doctor; and

(b)

either the person has been accepted by, or assigned to, another doctor or another doctor has been notified that an application has been made, in a case to which regulation 21(3)(b) applies, to assign that person to him.