National Health Service Act 2006
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
National Health Service Act 2006
2006 Chapter 41
An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to the health service.
[08 November 2006]
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part 1
Promotion and provision of the health service in England
The Secretary of State and the health service in England
1 Secretary of State’s duty to promote health service
(1) The Secretary of State must continue the promotion in England of a comprehensive health service designed to secure improvement—
(a)
(a) in the physical and mental health of the people of England, and
(b)
(b) in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness.
(2) The Secretary of State must for that purpose provide or secure the provision of services in accordance with this Act.
(3) The services so provided must be free of charge except in so far as the making and recovery of charges is expressly provided for by or under any enactment, whenever passed.
General power to provide services
2 Secretary of State’s general power
(1) The Secretary of State may—
(a)
(a) provide such services as he considers appropriate for the purpose of discharging any duty imposed on him by this Act, and
(b)
(b) do anything else which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the discharge of such a duty.
(2) Subsection (1) does not affect—
(a)
(a) the Secretary of State’s powers apart from this section,
(b)
(b) Chapter 1 of Part 7 (pharmaceutical services).
Provision of particular services
3 Secretary of State’s duty as to provision of certain services
(1) The Secretary of State must provide throughout England, to such extent as he considers necessary to meet all reasonable requirements—
(a)
(a) hospital accommodation,
(b)
(b) other accommodation for the purpose of any service provided under this Act,
(c)
(c) medical, dental, ophthalmic, nursing and ambulance services,
(d)
(d) such other services or facilities for the care of pregnant women, women who are breastfeeding and young children as he considers are appropriate as part of the health service,
(e)
(e) such other services or facilities for the prevention of illness, the care of persons suffering from illness and the after-care of persons who have suffered from illness as he considers are appropriate as part of the health service,
(f)
(f) such other services or facilities as are required for the diagnosis and treatment of illness.
(2) For the purposes of the duty in subsection (1), services provided under—
(a)
(a) section 83(2) (primary medical services), section 99(2) (primary dental services) or section 115(4) (primary ophthalmic services), or
(b)
(b) a general medical services contract, a general dental services contract or a general ophthalmic services contract,
must be regarded as provided by the Secretary of State.
(3) This section does not affect Chapter 1 of Part 7 (pharmaceutical services).
4 High security psychiatric services
(1) The Secretary of State’s duty under section 1 includes a duty to provide hospital accommodation and services for persons who—
(a)
(a) are liable to be detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 (c. 20), and
(b)
(b) in the opinion of the Secretary of State require treatment under conditions of high security on account of their dangerous, violent or criminal propensities.
(2) The hospital accommodation and services mentioned in subsection (1) are referred to in this section and paragraph 15 of Schedule 4 (NHS trusts) as “high security psychiatric services”.
(3) High security psychiatric services may be provided only at hospital premises at which services are provided only for the persons mentioned in subsection (1).
(4) “Hospital premises” means—
(a)
(a) a hospital, or
(b)
(b) any part of a hospital which is treated as a separate unit.
5 Other services
Schedule 1 makes further provision about the Secretary of State and services under this Act.
Provision of services otherwise than in England
6 Performance of functions outside England
(1) The Secretary of State may provide or secure the provision of anything mentioned in section 3(1) outside England.
(2) The Secretary of State’s functions may be performed outside England and Wales, in so far as they relate to—
(a)
(a) holidays for patients,
(b)
(b) the transfer of patients to or from Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, or
(c)
(c) the return of patients who have received treatment in England and Wales, to countries or territories outside the British Islands (including for this purpose the Republic of Ireland).
Exercise and distribution of functions
7 Distribution of health service functions
(1) The Secretary of State may direct a Strategic Health Authority, a Primary Care Trust or a Special Health Authority to exercise any of his functions relating to the health service which are specified in the directions.
(2) The Secretary of State may direct a Special Health Authority to exercise any functions of a Strategic Health Authority or a Primary Care Trust which are specified in the directions.
(3) The functions which may be specified in directions include functions under enactments relating to mental health and care homes.
8 Secretary of State’s directions to health service bodies
(1) The Secretary of State may give directions to any of the bodies mentioned in subsection (2) about its exercise of any functions.
(2) The bodies are—
(a)
(a) Strategic Health Authorities,
(b)
(b) Primary Care Trusts,
(c)
(c) NHS trusts, and
(d)
(d) Special Health Authorities.
(3) Nothing in provision made by or under this or any other Act affects the generality of subsection (1).
NHS contracts
9 NHS contracts
(1) In this Act, an NHS contract is an arrangement under which one health service body (“the commissioner”) arranges for the provision to it by another health service body (“the provider”) of goods or services which it reasonably requires for the purposes of its functions.
(2) Section 139(6) (NHS contracts and the provision of local pharmaceutical services under pilot schemes) makes further provision about acting as commissioner for the purposes of subsection (1).
(3) Paragraph 15 of Schedule 4 (NHS trusts and NHS contracts) makes further provision about an NHS trust acting as provider for the purposes of subsection (1).
(4) “Health service body” means any of the following—
(a)
(a) a Strategic Health Authority,
(b)
(b) a Primary Care Trust,
(c)
(c) an NHS trust,
(d)
(d) a Special Health Authority,
(e)
(e) a Local Health Board,
(f)
(f) a Health Board constituted under section 2 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 (c. 29),
(g)
(g) a Health and Social Services Board constituted under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 ( S.I. 1972/1265 (N.I.14)),
(h)
(h) the Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service,
(i)
(i) the Wales Centre for Health,
(j)
(j) the Health Protection Agency,
(k)
(k) the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection,
(l)
(l) the Scottish Dental Practice Board,
(m)
(m) the Secretary of State,
(n)
(n) the Welsh Ministers,
(o)
(o) the Northern Ireland Central Services Agency for the Health and Social Services established under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972,
(p)
(p) a special health and social services agency established under the Health and Personal Social Services (Special Agencies) (Northern Ireland) Order 1990 ( S.I. 1990/247 (N.I.3)),
(q)
(q) a Health and Social Services trust established under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 ( S.I. 1991/194 (N.I.1)),
(r)
(r) the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety.
(5) Whether or not an arrangement which constitutes an NHS contract would apart from this subsection be a contract in law, it must not be regarded for any purpose as giving rise to contractual rights or liabilities.
(6) But if any dispute arises with respect to such an arrangement, either party may refer the matter to the Secretary of State for determination under this section.
(7) If, in the course of negotiations intending to lead to an arrangement which will be an NHS contract, it appears to a health service body—
(a)
(a) that the terms proposed by another health service body are unfair by reason that the other is seeking to take advantage of its position as the only, or the only practicable, provider of the goods or services concerned or by reason of any other unequal bargaining position as between the prospective parties to the proposed arrangement, or
(b)
(b) that for any other reason arising out of the relative bargaining position of the prospective parties any of the terms of the proposed arrangement cannot be agreed,
that health service body may refer the terms of the proposed arrangement to the Secretary of State for determination under this...
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