The National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) Regulations 2015
| Year | 2015 |
2015No. 1862
NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, ENGLAND
The National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) Regulations 2015
6thNovember2015
13thNovember2015
7thDecember2015
The Secretary of State for Health, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 9(8), 83(3), (6), 85(1), 86(1) and (4), 89(1), (1A)(a) and (b), (3) and (4), 90(1), (3), 91(1), 97(6) and (8), 187 and 272(7) and (8) of the National Health Service Act 2006( 1), makes the following Regulations.
PART 1
General
Citation and commencement
1.-(1) These Regulations may be cited as the National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) Regulations 2015.
(2) They come into force on 7th December 2015.
Application
2. These Regulations apply to a contract-
(a) to which the National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) Regulations 2004( 2) applied immediately before the date on which these Regulations come into force; or
(b) which is entered into between a contractor and the Board on or after that date.
Interpretation
3. In these Regulations-
"the Act" means the National Health Service Act 2006;
"2004 Regulations" means the National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) Regulations 2004;
"2010 Order" means the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Order of Council 2010( 3);
"additional services" means one or more of the following-
(a) cervical screening services;
(b) contraceptive services;
(c) childhood vaccines and immunisations;
(d) vaccines and immunisations;
(e) child health surveillance services;
(f) maternity medical services; and
(g) minor surgery;
"adjudicator" means the Secretary of State or one or more people appointed by the Secretary of State under section 9(8) of the Act( 4) (NHS contracts) or under regulation 83(5)(b);
"advanced electronic signature" means an electronic signature which is-
(a) uniquely linked to the signatory;
(b) capable of identifying the signatory;
(c) created using means that the signatory can maintain under the signatory's sole control; and
(d) linked to the data to which it relates in such a manner that any subsequent change of data is detectable;
"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 126 of the Act( 5) (arrangements for pharmaceutical services);
"armed forces of the Crown" means the forces that are "regular forces" or "reserve forces" within the meaning given in section 374 of the Armed Forces Act 2006( 6);
"assessment panel" means the panel appointed by the Board for the purpose of making determinations under paragraph 41(7) of Schedule 3;
"bank holiday" means any day that is specified or proclaimed as a bank holiday in England and Wales under section 1 of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971( 7) (bank holidays);
"batch issue" means a form, in the format required by the Board and approved by the Secretary of State, which-
(a) is issued by a repeatable prescriber at the same time as a non-electronic repeatable prescription to enable a chemist or person who provides dispensing services to receive payment for the provision of repeat dispensing services;
(b) relates to a particular non-electronic repeatable prescription and contains the same date as that prescription;
(c) is generated by a computer and not signed by a repeatable prescriber;
(d) 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 non-electronic repeatable prescription may be provided; and
(e) has included on it a number denoting its place in the sequence referred to in paragraph (d);
"the Board" means the National Health Service Commissioning Board( 8);
"Care Quality Commission" means the body established under section 1 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008( 9) (The Care Quality Commission);
"CCG" means a clinical commissioning group( 10);
"CCT" means a certificate of completion of training awarded under section 34L(1) of the Medical Act 1983( 11) (award and withdrawal of a Certificate of Completion of Training) including any such certificate awarded in pursuance of the competent authority functions of the General Medical Council specified in section 49B of, and Schedule 4A to, that Act( 12) (The Directive: designation of competent authority etc.);
"cervical screening services" means the services described in paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 1;
"charity trustee" means one of the persons having the general control, management and administration of a charity;
"chemist" means-
(a) a person lawfully conducting a retail pharmacy business in accordance with section 69 of the Medicines Act 1968( 13) (general provisions); or
(b) a supplier of appliances,
who is included in the list held by the Board under section 129 of the Act( 14) (regulations as to pharmaceutical services), or a local pharmaceutical services scheme made under Schedule 12 to the Act (LPS Schemes);
"child" means a person who has not attained the age of 16 years;
"child health surveillance services" means the services described in paragraph 6(2) of Schedule 1;
"childhood vaccines and immunisations" means the services described in paragraph 5(2) of Schedule 1;
"chiropodist or podiatrist independent prescriber" means a person-
(a) who is engaged or employed by the contractor or is a party to the contract; and
(b) who is registered in Part 2 of the register maintained under article 5 of the Health and Social Work Professions Order 2001( 15) (establishment and maintenance of register), and against whose name in that register is recorded an annotation signifying that the chiropodist or podiatrist is qualified to order drugs, medicines and appliances as a chiropodist or podiatrist independent prescriber;
"clinical services" means medical services under the contract which relate to the actual observation and treatment of patients;
"closed", in relation to a 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;
"contraceptive services" means the services described in paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 1;
"contract", except in regulation 96, means a general medical services contract made under section 84(2) of the Act( 16) (general medical services contracts: introductory);
"contractor", except in regulation 6, has the meaning given in section 84(5) of the Act (general medical services contracts: introductory);
"contractor's list of patients" means the list prepared and maintained by the Board under paragraph 17 of Schedule 3;
"core hours" means the period beginning at 8.00am and ending at 6.30pm on any day from Monday to Friday except Good Friday, Christmas Day or bank holidays;
"dispenser" means a chemist, medical practitioner or contractor whom a patient wishes to dispense the patient's electronic prescriptions;
"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 under section 126 (arrangements for pharmaceutical services) and section 132 (persons authorised to provide pharmaceutical services) of the Act( 17);
"Drug Tariff" means the publication known as the Drug Tariff which is published by the Secretary of State and which is referred to in section 127(4) of the Act( 18) (arrangements for additional pharmaceutical services);
"electronic communication" has the meaning given in section 15 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000( 19) (general interpretation);
"electronic prescription" means an electronic prescription form or an electronic repeatable prescription;
"electronic prescription form" means a prescription form which falls within paragraph (b) of the definition of "prescription form";
"Electronic Prescription Service" means the service of that name which is managed by the Health and Social Care Information Centre( 20);
"electronic repeatable prescription" means a prescription which falls within paragraph (b) of the definition of "repeatable prescription";
"enhanced services" are-
(a) services other than essential services, additional services or out of hours services; or
(b) essential services, additional services or out of hours services, or an element of such a service, that a contractor agrees under the contract to provide in accordance with specifications set out in a plan, which requires of the contractor an enhanced level of service provision compared to that which it needs generally to provide in relation to that service or element of that service;
"essential services" means the services required to be provided in accordance with regulation 17;
"financial year" has the meaning given in section 275(1) of the Act (interpretation);
"general medical practitioner" means a medical practitioner whose name is included in the General Practitioner Register kept by the General Medical Council under section 2 of the Medical Act 1983( 21) (registration of medical practitioners);
"global sum" has the meaning given in the GMS Statement of Financial Entitlements;
"GMS Statement of Financial Entitlements"( 22) means the directions given by the Secretary of State under section 87 of the Act( 23) (GMS contracts: payments);
"GP Specialty Registrar" means a general medical practitioner who is being trained in general practice by a general medical practitioner who is approved under section 34I(1)(c) of the Medical Act 1983( 24) (postgraduate education and training: approvals) for the purpose of providing training in accordance with that section, whether as part of training leading to a CCT or otherwise;
"Health and Social Services Board" means a Health and Social Services Board established under article 16 of the Health and Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972( 25) (establishment of Health and Social Services Boards);
"Health and Social Services Trust" means a Health and...
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