Explanatory note

This Order amends the National Patient Safety Agency (Establishment and Constitution) Order 2001 (the NPSA Order) and the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Establishment and Constitution) Order 1999 (the NICE Order).

Article 2 amends the NPSA Order to remove from the list of the National Patient Safety Agency’s (NPSA’s) functions, the functions of assessing the performance of doctors and dentists engaged in the NHS, which, together with the function of assessing the performance of pharmacists engaged in the NHS conferred on the NPSA by means of Directions, have been undertaken by the National Clinical Assessment Service (NCAS) division of the NPSA. These assessment functions will instead be conferred on the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) by means of Directions given by the Secretary of State under sections 7 and 8 of the National Health Service Act 2006.

Articles 3 and 4 of this Order amend the NICE Order to provide for the transfer of staff who are engaged in carrying out the NCAS functions referred to above, and for the transfer of property and liabilities relating to those functions, from the NPSA to the NICE. Article 5, and the Schedule, make amendments consequential on the transfer of functions.