Regulation 2 Interpretation

In these Regulations—

• “the Act” means the National Health Service Act 1977;

• “the 1990 Act” means the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990;

• “the 2003 Order” means the General and Specialist Medical Practice (Education, Training and Qualifications) Order 2003^f1;

• “Abolition of the Tribunal Regulations” means the Abolition of the National Health Service Tribunal (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2001^f2;

• “Abolition of the Tribunal (Wales) Regulations” means the Abolition of the National Health Service Tribunal (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2002^f3;

• “adjudicator” means the Secretary of State or a person or persons appointed by the Secretary of State under section 4(5) of the 1990 Act or paragraph 95(5) of Schedule 5;

• “agreement” means, except where the context otherwise requires, an agreement for primary medical services made under section 28C of the Act;

• “appliance” means an appliance which is included in a list for the time being approved by the Secretary of State for the purposes of section 41 of the Act;

• “approved medical practice” shall be construed in accordance with section 11(4) of the Medical Act 1983^f4;

• “armed forces GP” means a medical practitioner, who is employed on a contract of service by the Ministry of Defence, whether or not as a member of the United Kingdom Armed Forces of Her Majesty;

• “assessment panel” means a committee or sub-committee of a Primary Care Trust (other than the Primary Care Trust which is a party to the agreement in question) appointed to exercise functions under paragraphs 30 and 34 of Schedule 5;

• “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 1971^f5;

• “batch issue” means a form provided by a Primary Care Trust and issued by a prescriber at the same time as a repeatable prescription to enable a chemist to receive payment for the provision of repeat dispensing services which is in the format specified in Part 2 of Schedule 1, and which—

  1. (a)

     is generated by a computer and not signed by a prescriber,

  2. (b)

     relates to a particular repeatable prescription and contains the same dates as that prescription,

  3. (c)

     is issued as one of a sequence of forms, the number of which is equal to the number of occasions on which the drugs, medicines or appliances ordered on the repeatable prescription may be provided, and

  4. (d)

     specifies a number denoting its place in the sequence referred to in paragraph (c);

• “CCT” means Certificate of Completion of Training awarded under article 8 of the 2003 Order, including any such certificate awarded in pursuance of the competent authority functions of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board specified in article 20(3)(a) of that Order;

• “charity trustee” means one of the persons having the general control and management of the administration of a charity;

• “chemist” means—

  1. (a)

     a registered pharmacist,

  2. (b)

     a person lawfully conducting a retail pharmacy business in accordance with section 69 of the Medicines Act 1968^f6, or

  3. (c)

     a supplier of appliances,

  who is included in the list of a Primary Care Trust or a Local Health Board under section 42 of the Act, or who provides local pharmaceutical services in accordance with LPS arrangements;

• “child” means a person who has not attained the age of 16 years;

• “closed”, in relation to the contractor’s list of patients, means closed to applications for inclusion in the list of patients other than from immediate family members of registered patients;

• “contractor” means, except where the context otherwise requires—

  1. (a)

     where a Primary Care Trust is not providing services under the agreement, a person or persons other than a Primary Care Trust, who is a party, or are parties, to the agreement, or

  2. (b)

     where a Primary Care Trust is providing services under the agreement, that Primary Care Trust and any other person or persons (other than a Strategic Health Authority) who is a party, or are parties, to the agreement;

• “contractor’s leaflet” means a leaflet drawn up in accordance with paragraph 72 of Schedule 5;

• “contractor’s list of patients” means the list prepared and maintained by the Primary Care Trust under paragraph 13 of Schedule 5 and references to the contractor having a list of patients shall be interpreted accordingly;

• “contractor’s practice area” means the area specified in the agreement as the area in which essential services are to be provided;

• “contractor’s premises” means an address specified in the agreement as one at which services are to be provided under the agreement;

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

• “dispensing services” means the provision of drugs, medicines or appliances that may be provided as pharmaceutical services by a medical practitioner in accordance with arrangements made under regulation 20 of the Pharmaceutical Regulations;

• “Drug Tariff” has the same meaning as in regulation 18 of the Pharmaceutical Regulations;

• “essential services” means the services described in regulation 15(3), (5), (6) and (8) of the General Medical Services Contracts Regulations;

• “FHSAA” means the Family Health Service Appeal Authority constituted under section 49S of the Act^f7;

• “FHSAA (SHA)” means the Family Health Services Appeal Authority (Special Health Authority) established by article 2 of the Family Health Services Appeal Authority (Establishment and Constitution) Order 1995^f8;

• “general medical practitioner” means, except where the context otherwise requires—

  1. (a)

     on or after the coming into force of article 10 of the 2003 Order, a medical practitioner whose name is included in the General Practitioner Register, and

  2. (b)

     before the coming into force of that article, a medical practitioner who is either—

     1. (i)

        until the coming into force of paragraph 22 of Schedule 8 to the 2003 Order, suitably experienced within the meaning of section 31(2) of the Act, section 21 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978^f9 or Article 8(2) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1978^f10, or has an acquired right to practise as a general medical practitioner pursuant to regulation 5(1)(d) of the Vocational Training for General Medical Practice (European Requirements) Regulations 1994^f11, or

     2. (ii)

        upon the coming into force of paragraph 22 of Schedule 8 to the 2003 Order, an eligible general practitioner pursuant to that paragraph;

• “General Medical Services Contracts Regulations” means the National Health Services (General Medical Services Contracts) Regulations 2004^f12;

• “General Practitioner Register” means the register kept by the General Medical Council under article 10 of the 2003 Order;

• “GP Registrar”—

  1. (a)

     until the coming into force of article 5 of the 2003 Order, means a medical practitioner who is being trained in general practice by a medical practitioner who—

     1. (i)

        has been approved for that purpose by the Joint Committee on Postgraduate Training for General Practice under regulation 7 of the National Health Service (Vocational Training for General Medical Practice) Regulations 1997^f13, and

     2. (ii)

        performs primary medical services, and

  2. (b)

     from the coming into force of that article, means a medical practitioner who is being trained in general practice by a GP Trainer whether as part of training leading to the award of a CCT or otherwise;

• “GP Trainer” means a general medical practitioner who is—

  1. (a)

     until the coming into force of article 4(5)(d) of the 2003 Order, approved as a GP Trainer by the Joint Committee on Postgraduate Training for General Practice under regulation 7 of the National Health Service (Vocational Training for General Medical Practice) Regulations 1997, or

  2. (b)

     from the coming into force of that article, approved by the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board under article 4(5)(d) of the 2003 Order for the purposes of providing training to a GP Registrar under article 5(1)(c)(i);

• “Health and Social Services Board” means a Health and Social Services Board established under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972^f14;

• “Health and Social Services Trust” means a Health and Social Services Trust established under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1991^f15;

• “Health Board” means a Health Board established under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978;

• “health care professional” has the same meaning as in section 28M of the Act (persons eligible to enter into GDS contracts)^f16 and “health care profession” shall be construed accordingly;

• “health service body” has, unless the context otherwise requires, the meaning given to it in section 4(2) of the 1990 Act^f17;

• “immediate family member” means—

  1. (a)

     a spouse,

  2. (b)

     a person (whether or not of the opposite sex) whose relationship with the registered patient has the characteristics of the relationship between husband and wife,

  3. (c)

     a parent or step parent,

  4. (d)

     a son,

  5. (e)

     a daughter,

  6. (f)

     a child of whom the registered patient is—

     1. (i)

        the guardian, or

     2. (ii)

        the carer duly authorised by a local authority to whose care the child has been committed under the Children Act 1989^f18, or

  7. (g)

     a grandparent;

• “independent nurse prescriber” means a person—

  1. (a)

     who is either engaged or employed by the contractor or is a party to the agreement,

  2. (b)

     who is registered in the Nursing and Midwifery Register, and

  3. (c)

     in respect of whom there is an annotation signifying that he is qualified to order drugs, medicines and appliances from—

     1. (i)

        the Nurse Prescribers' Formulary for District Nurses and Health Visitors in Part XVIIB(i) of the Drug Tariff, or

     2. (ii)

        the Nurse Prescribers' Extended Formulary in Part XVIIB(ii) of the Drug Tariff;

• “licensing authority” shall be construed in accordance with section 6(3) of the Medicines Act 1968^f19;

• “licensing body” means any body that licenses or regulates any profession;

• “Local Medical Committee” means a committee recognised under section 45A of the Act^f20;

• “local pharmaceutical services” has the same meaning as in regulation 2 of the National Health Service (Local Pharmaceutical Services and Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2002^f21;

• “medical card” means a card issued by a Primary Care Trust, Local Health Board, Health Authority, Health Board or Health and Social Services Board to a person for the purpose of enabling him to obtain, or establishing his title to receive, primary medical services;

• “medical officer” means a medical practitioner who is—

  1. (a)

     employed or engaged by the Department for Work and Pensions, or

  2. (b)

     provided by an organisation in pursuance of an agreement entered into with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions;

• “medical performers list” means a list of medical practitioners prepared and published by a Primary Care Trust pursuant to regulation 3(1) of the National Health Service (Performers Lists) Regulations 2004^f22;

• “Medical Register” means the registers kept under section 2 of the Medical Act 1983^f23;

• “NCAA” means the National Clinical Assessment Authority established as a Special Health Authority under section 11 of the Act;

• “national disqualification” means—

  1. (a)

     a decision made by the FHSAA under section 49N of the Act (national disqualification)^f24,

  2. (b)

     a decision under provisions in force in Scotland or Northern Ireland corresponding to section 49N of the Act, or

  3. (c)

     a decision by the NHS Tribunal which is treated as a national disqualification by the FHSAA by virtue of regulation 6(4)(b) of the Abolition of the Tribunal Regulations or regulation 6(4)(b) of the Abolition of the Tribunal (Wales) Regulations;

• “NHS trust” in relation to Scotland means a NHS trust established under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978;

• “NHS contract” has the meaning assigned to it in section 4 of the 1990 Act;

• “the NHS dispute resolution procedure” means the procedure for resolution of disputes specified—

  1. (a)

     in paragraphs 95 and 96 of Schedule 5, or

  2. (b)

     in a case to which paragraph 35 of Schedule 5 applies, in that paragraph;

• “the NHS Tribunal” means the Tribunal constituted under section 46 of the Act^f25 for England and Wales, and which, except for prescribed cases, had effect in relation to England only until 14th December 2001 and in relation to Wales only until 26th August 2002^f26;

• “normal hours” means, except in Schedule 6, those days and hours on which and the times at which services under the agreement are normally made available and may be different for different services;

• “Nursing and Midwifery Register” means the register maintained by the Nursing and Midwifery Council under the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001^f27;

• “open”, in relation to a contractor’s list of patients, means open to applications from patients in accordance with paragraph 14 of Schedule 5;

• “out of hours period” means—

  1. (a)

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

  2. (b)

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

  3. (c)

     Good Friday, Christmas Day and bank holidays,

  and “part” of an out of hours period means any part of any one or more of the periods described in paragraphs (a) to (c);

• “out of hours services” means services required to be provided in all or part of the out of hours period which would be essential services if provided in core hours;

• “parent” includes, in relation to any child, any adult who, in the opinion of the contractor, is for the time being discharging in respect of that child the obligations normally attaching to a parent in respect of his child;

• “patient” means—

  1. (a)

     a registered patient,

  2. (b)

     a temporary resident,

  3. (c)

     persons to whom the contractor is required to provide immediately necessary treatment as part of its obligation to provide essential services, and

  4. (d)

     any other person to whom the contractor has agreed to provide services under the agreement;

• “Patients' Forum” means a Patients' Forum established for a Primary Care Trust under section 15 of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002^f28;

• “Pharmaceutical Regulations” means the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 1992^f29;

• “the POM Order” means the Prescription Only Medicines (Human Use) Order 1997^f30;

• “prescriber” means—

  1. (a)

     a medical practitioner,

  2. (b)

     an independent nurse prescriber, and

  3. (c)

     a supplementary prescriber,

  who is either engaged or employed by the contractor or is a party to the agreement;

• “prescription form” means a form provided by the Primary Care Trust and issued by a prescriber to enable a person to obtain pharmaceutical services or local pharmaceutical services and does not include a repeatable prescription;

• “prescription only medicine” means a medicine referred to in article 3 of the POM Order (medicinal products on prescription only);

• “primary care list” means—

  1. (a)

     a list of persons performing primary medical or dental services prepared in accordance with regulations made under section 28X of the Act (persons performing primary medical and dental services)^f31,

  2. (b)

     a list of persons undertaking to provide general medical services, general dental services, general ophthalmic services or, as the case may be, pharmaceutical services prepared in accordance with regulations made under sections 29 (arrangements and regulations for general medical services), 36 (arrangements for general dental services), 39 (regulations as to section 38), 42 (regulations as to pharmaceutical services) or 43 (persons authorised to provide pharmaceutical services) of the Act,

  3. (c)

     a list of persons approved for the purposes of assisting in the provision of any such services mentioned in paragraph (b) prepared in accordance with regulations made under section 43D of the Act (supplementary lists)^f32,

  4. (d)

     a services list referred to in section 8ZA of the National Health Service (Primary Care) Act 1997 (lists of persons who may perform personal medical services or personal dental services)^f33,

  5. (e)

     a list corresponding to a services list prepared by virtue of regulations made under section 41 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001 (corresponding provision and application of enactments)^f34, or

  6. (f)

     a list corresponding to any of the above lists in Scotland or Northern Ireland;

• “Primary Care Trust” means, except where the context otherwise requires, the Primary Care Trust which is a party, or prospective party, to an agreement;

• “primary carer” means, in relation to an adult, the adult or organisation primarily caring for him;

• “registered patient” means—

  1. (a)

     a person who is recorded by the Primary Care Trust pursuant to paragraph 13 of Schedule 5 as being on the contractor’s list of patients or its list of patients, or

  2. (b)

     a person whom the contractor has accepted for inclusion on its list of patients, whether or not, in the case of a contractor which is not a Primary Care Trust, notification of that acceptance has been received by the Primary Care Trust and who has not been notified by the Primary Care Trust as having ceased to be on that list;

• “relevant body” means—

  1. (a)

     in a case where a contractor is a party to an agreement with a Primary Care Trust, that Primary Care Trust, and

  2. (b)

     in a case where a contractor is a party to an agreement with a Strategic Health Authority, that Strategic Health Authority;

• “relevant register” means—

  1. (a)

     in relation to a nurse, the Nursing and Midwifery Register, and

  2. (b)

     in relation to a pharmacist, the register maintained in pursuance of section 2(1) of the Pharmacy Act 1954 (the registers and registration)^f35 or the register maintained in pursuance of articles 6 (the registers) and 9 (the registrar) of the Pharmacy (Northern Ireland) Order 1976^f36;

• “relevant Strategic Health Authority” means the Strategic Health Authority established for an area which includes the area for which the Primary Care Trust is established;

• “repeat dispensing services” means pharmaceutical services or local pharmaceutical services which involve the provision of drugs, medicines or appliances by a chemist in accordance with a repeatable prescription;

• “repeatable prescribing services” means services which involve the prescribing of drugs, medicines or appliances on a repeatable prescription;

• “repeatable prescription” means a prescription contained in a form provided by a Primary Care Trust and issued by a prescriber to enable a person to obtain pharmaceutical services or local pharmaceutical services, which is in the format specified in Part 1 of Schedule 1 and which—

  1. (a)

     is generated by a computer but signed by a prescriber, and

  2. (b)

     indicates that the drugs, medicines or appliances ordered on that form may be provided more than once and specifies the number of occasions on which they may be provided;

• “restricted availability appliance” means an appliance which is approved for particular categories of persons or particular purposes only;

• “Scheduled drug” means—

  1. (a)

     a drug, medicine or other substance specified in any directions given by the Secretary of State under section 28U of the Act (GMS contracts: prescription of drugs etc)^f37 as being a drug, medicine or other substance which may not be ordered for patients in the provision of medical services under a general medical services contract, or

  2. (b)

     except where the conditions in paragraph 41(2) of Schedule 5 are satisfied, a drug, medicine or other substance which is specified in any directions given by the Secretary of State under section 28U of the Act as being a drug, medicine or other substance which can only be ordered for specified patients and specified purposes;

• “Strategic Health Authority” means, except where the context otherwise requires, the Strategic Health Authority which is a party, or prospective party, to an agreement;

• “supplementary prescriber” means a person—

  1. (a)

     who is either engaged or employed by the contractor or is a party to the agreement,

  2. (b)

     whose name is registered in—

     1. (i)

        the Nursing and Midwifery Register,

     2. (ii)

        the Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists maintained in pursuance of section 2(1) of the Pharmacy Act 1954, or

     3. (iii)

        the register maintained in pursuance of Articles 6 and 9 of the Pharmacy (Northern Ireland) Order 1976, and

  3. (c)

     against whose name is recorded in the relevant register an annotation signifying that he is qualified to order drugs, medicines and appliances as a supplementary prescriber;

• “temporary resident” means a person accepted by the contractor as a temporary resident under paragraph 15 of Schedule 5 and for whom the contractor’s responsibility has not been terminated in accordance with that paragraph;

• “walk-in centre” means a centre at which information and treatment for minor conditions is provided to the public under arrangements made by or on behalf of the Secretary of State;

• “working day” means any day apart from Saturday, Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a bank holiday; and

• “writing”, except in paragraph 98(1) of Schedule 5 and unless the context otherwise requires, includes electronic mail and “written” should be construed accordingly.