The National Health Service (Primary Medical Services Performers Lists) (Scotland) Regulations 2004

Made: 10th March 2004

Laid before the Scottish Parliament: 11th March 2004

Coming into force: 1st April 2004

The Scottish Ministers in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 17P, 32E, 105(7) and 108(1) of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement

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• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the National Health Service (Primary Medical Services Performers Lists) (Scotland) Regulations 2004 and shall come into force on 1st April 2004.

Interpretation

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In these Regulations–

• “the Act” means the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978;

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• “the 2002 Order” means the Medical Act 1983 (Amendment) Order 2002 ;

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• “the 2004 Act” means the Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2004 ;

• “the 2007 Act” means the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007;

• “the Agency” means the Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service constituted under section 10 (Common Services Agency) of the Act;

• “appliance” means an appliance which is included in a list for the time being approved by the Scottish Ministers for the purposes of section 27(1) of the Act;

• “approved medical practice” has the meaning indicated in section 11(4) of the Medical Act 1983 ;

• “area medical committee” means the committee of that name recognised under section 9 of the Act (local consultative committees) in the area of the Health Board;

• “area pharmaceutical committee” means the committee of that name recognised under section 9 of the Act (local consultative committees) in the area of the Health Board;

• “armed forces GP” means a medical practitioner who—is employed under a contract of service by the Ministry of Defence whether or not as a member of the armed forces of the Crown; andis entered on the GP Register;

• “barred from regulated roles” means barred from regulated roles with children or adults within the meaning of section 92(1) or (2) (individuals barred from regulated roles) of the 2007 Act,

• “both registers” means the register of medical practitioners and the GP Register;

• “CCT” means Certificate of Completion of Training awarded under section 34L(1) of the Medical Act 1983...;

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• “conditional disqualification” has the meaning indicated in section 29C(1) of the Act and includes a decision under provisions in force in England, Wales or Northern Ireland corresponding to a conditional disqualification, and “conditionally disqualified” shall be construed accordingly;

• “condition for disqualification” means–the first condition for disqualification set out in section 29(6) of the Act;the second condition for disqualification set out in section 29(7) of the Act; orthe third condition for disqualification set out in section 29(7A) of the Act;

• “considered for listing” means considered for listing by the Scottish Ministers in the children’s list or adults’ list or in both lists in pursuance of section 10, 11, 12 or 13 (consideration whether to list) of the 2007 Act;

• “corresponding decision” has the same meaning as in section 32D of the Act;

• “Disclosure Act” means the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020,

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• “disqualification” means ... disqualification by the Tribunal, (or a decision under provisions in force in England, Wales or Northern Ireland corresponding to local or national disqualification), but does not include conditional disqualification, and “disqualified” shall be construed accordingly;

• “EEA State” means a member State, Norway, Iceland or Lichtenstein;

• “equivalent body” means, in England, NHS England or, in relation to any time prior to 1st April 2013, a Primary Care Trust, in Wales, a Local Health Board or, in Northern Ireland, a Health and Social Services Board;

• “equivalent list” means a list kept by an equivalent body;

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• “Fitness to Practise Panel” means a panel constituted pursuant to paragraph 19E of Schedule 1 to the Medical Act 1983 ;

• “fraud” means matters which it is the function of the Agency to prevent, detect or investigate by virtue of article 2 (functions of the Agency) of the National Health Service (Functions of the Common Services Agency) (Scotland) Order 2008;

• “General Medical Services Contracts Regulations” means the National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2018;

• “GP Register” means the register kept by virtue of section 34C of the Medical Act 1983;

• “GP Registrar” means a medical practitioner who is being trained in general practice by a GP Trainer, whether as part of training leading to a CCT or otherwise;

• “GP Trainer” means a general medical practitioner, other than a GP Registrar, who is approved by the General Medical Council for the purposes of providing training to a GP Registrar;

• “general medical practitioner” means a GP Registrar or a medical practitioner whose name is included in the GP Register;

• “health case” has the meaning ascribed to it by section 35E(4) of the Medical Act 1983 ;

• “Level 2 disclosure application” means an application under section 11 of the Disclosure Act,

• “licensing or regulatory body” means a body that licenses or regulates any profession of which the general medical practitioner is, or has been a member, including a body regulating or licensing the education, training or qualifications of that profession, and includes any body which licenses or regulates any such profession, its education, training or qualifications, outside the United Kingdom;

• “list” has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning as in section 29(8) of the Act;

• “medical practitioner” means a registered medical practitioner, and includes for the purposes of these Regulations, a person provisionally registered under section 15 (provisional registration), 15A (provisional registration for EEA nationals), section 21 (provisional registration of EEA nationals etc. with certain overseas qualifications) or section 21C (provisional registration of persons with an overseas qualification) of the Medical Act 1983 ...;

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• “NHS Education for Scotland” means the body of the same name constituted under the NHS Education for Scotland Order 2002;

• “partnership” includes a limited liability partnership;

• “performer” means a person included in a primary medical services performers list;

• “pharmacist” means–a registered pharmacist within the meaning of the Medicines Act 1968 who provides pharmaceutical services;a person lawfully conducting a retail pharmacy business in accordance with section 69 (general provisions) of that Act who provides such services; ora supplier of appliances,who is included in the list of a Health Board under section 27 (arrangements for provision of pharmaceutical services) of the Act ;

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• “post-registration programme” means a programme of post-registration supervised clinical practice;

• “primary medical services performers list” means a list of medical practitioners prepared pursuant to regulation 4(1);

• “professional conduct” includes matters relating both to professional conduct and professional performance;

• “Professional Conduct Committee” means the Professional Conduct Committee of the General Medical Council referred to in section 1(3) of the Medical Act;

• “professional registration number” means the number against the medical practitioner’s name in the register of medical practitioners kept by the General Medical Council;

• “provider of primary medical services” means a general medical practitioner, who, in addition to performing primary medical services, provides (including by virtue of being a partner in or member of a partnership or company which so provides) primary medical services in accordance with arrangements under section 2C(2) (functions of Health Boards: primary medical services), an agreement under section 17C (personal medical or dental services) or a general medical services contract under section 17J (Health Board’s power to enter into general medical services contracts) of the Act ;

• “PVG Scheme Level 2 disclosure” means a Level 2 disclosure (within the meaning given in section 8 of the Disclosure Act) to which section 17 of the Disclosure Act applies,

• “register of medical practitioners” has the meaning given to it by section 2(2) of the Medical Act 1983 ;

• “relevant Health Board” means a Health Board on whose primary medical services performers list a performer is already included, or a Health Board which an applicant has specified by virtue of regulation 6(2);

• “relevant service in the armed forces” means whole time service in the armed forces of the Crown in a national emergency, as a volunteer or otherwise, or a compulsory whole-time service in those forces, including any service resulting from any reserve liability, or any equivalent service by a person liable for compulsory whole-time service in those forces;

• “scheme member” means a member of the Scheme, established by section 44 (the Scheme) of the 2007 Act, in relation to both—a regulated role with children as defined in section 91(2) (regulated roles) of the 2007 Act; anda regulated role with adults, as defined in section 91(3) of the 2007 Act;

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• “Section 17C Agreements Regulations” means the National Health Service (Primary Medical Services Section 17C Agreement) (Scotland) Regulations 2018;

• “suspended by a Health Board” means suspended by a Health Board in terms of regulation 8A;

• “suspended by direction of the Tribunal” means suspended as respects the performance of primary medical services by a direction of the Tribunal made pursuant to section 32A(2) (applications for interim suspension) or section 32B(1) (suspension pending appeal) of the Act or suspended under any provisions in force in England, Wales or Northern Ireland corresponding (whether or not exactly) to those provisions;

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• “Tribunal” means the NHS Tribunal constituted in accordance with section 29 of, and Schedule 8 to, the Act;

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• “vocational training scheme” means postgraduate medical education and training necessary for the award of a CCT in general practice;

• “writing” includes, except in regulation 6(1), transmission by electronic means and “written” shall be construed accordingly.

Primary Medical Services Performers

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• (1) Subject to the provisions of any order made by the Scottish Ministers under section 7 of the 2004 Act (ancillary provisions) and subject to paragraphs (2) to (3), a health care professional who is a medical practitioner may not perform any primary medical service which a Health Board is, under section 2C(1) of the Act , under a duty to provide or secure the provision of unless that medical practitioner is included in a primary medical services performers list maintained by that Health Board.

• (2) A medical practitioner, who is provisionally registered under section 15 (provisional registration), 15A (provisional registration for EEA nationals) or 21 (provisional registration) of the Medical Act 1983 may perform primary medical services despite not being included in the primary medical services performers list of any Health Board, where those services are performed in the course of the practitioner’s employment in a resident medical capacity in an approved medical practice.

• (2A) A medical practitioner who falls within paragraph (2B) may perform primary medical services in the area of a Health Board, despite not being included in the primary medical services performers list of that Health Board, but only in so far as the performance of those services constitutes part of a post registration programme approved by the General Medical Council.

• (2B) A medical practitioner falls within this paragraph if the medical practitioner–

• (a) is not a GP Registrar;

• (b) is undertaking a post registration programme;

• (c) has notified the Health Board that he or she will be undertaking part or all of a post registration programme in its area at least 24 hours before commencing any part of that programme; and

• (d) has, with that notification, provided the Health Board with evidence sufficient for it to satisfy itself that the medical practitioner is undergoing a post registration programme.

• (3) A GP Registrar, who has applied in accordance with these Regulations to a Health Board to have the GP Registrar’s name included in a primary medical services performers list maintained by that Health Board, may, despite not being included in that list, perform any primary medical service which that Health Board is, under section 2C(1) of the Act, under a duty to provide or secure the provision of, until the first of the following events arises:–

• (a) the Board notifies the GP Registrar of the Board’s decision on that application;

• (b) the end of a period of 2 months, starting with the date on which the GP Registrar’s vocational training scheme begins.

Primary Medical Services Performers Lists

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• (1) Each Health Board shall prepare in accordance with these Regulations a primary medical services performers list of medical practitioners who may perform primary medical services for which that Health Board is, under section 2C(1) of the Act, under a duty to provide or secure the provision of.

• (2) A primary medical services performers list shall contain in respect of each performer included in the list the following information:–

• (a) the full name and professional registration number of the performer;

• (b) provided that the performer consents to its inclusion, the date of birth, or, if there is no consent, the date of first full registration as a medical practitioner (whether pursuant to the Medical Act 1983 or otherwise), of the performer;

• (c) if the performer is also a provider of primary medical services, that the performer is one;

• (d) if the performer is a GP Registrar, that the performer is one; and

• (e) if the performer is an armed forces GP, that the performer is one.

Publication of primary medical services performers lists

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• (1) A Health Board shall publish and make available for inspection, at such places as appear to it convenient for informing all persons interested within the Health Board’s area, copies of the primary medical services performers list and shall keep them up to date.

• (2) A Health Board shall send a copy of the primary medical services performers list to–

• (a) the Scottish Ministers;

• (b) the area medical committee;

• (c) the area pharmaceutical committee; and

• (d) all pharmacists providing pharmaceutical services in the Health Board’s area,

at intervals of not more than 3 months.

Application for inclusion in the primary medical services performers list and notification of changes

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• (1) An application by a person for inclusion in a primary medical services performers list shall be made in writing and shall include the information, declarations, undertakings, consents, Level 2 disclosure application and PVG Scheme Level 2 disclosure specified in Schedule 1.

• (2) An application may specify other Health Boards on whose primary medical services performers list the applicant wishes to be included.

• (3) Before determining an application a Health Board shall—

• (a) check so far as practicable, the information provided by the applicant and any documents which the applicant is required to produce in terms of these Regulations;

• (b) seek and examine references from the referees that the applicant has provided in accordance with paragraph 1(g) of Schedule 1;

• (c) ask the Agency whether the applicant has any record of fraud, or is currently, or at any time has been, the subject of any investigation by the Agency, which information the Agency shall supply unless it would prejudice any criminal proceedings or the prevention, detection or investigation of fraud;

• (d) obtain a PVG Scheme Level 2 disclosure; and

• (e) notify any other Health Board which the applicant has specified in the application for the purposes of paragraph (2).

• (4) If a Health Board considers that further information to that provided by the applicant in accordance with paragraph (1) is necessary to determine the application, the Health Board shall require the applicant to provide it.

• (5) Where the Health Board considers that there may be grounds for referral to the Tribunal, then the Health Board may refer the matter to the Tribunal.

• (6) Notwithstanding paragraphs (3) and (4), where an applicant is already included on another Health Board’s primary medical services performers list, the Health Board to whom the application has been made may include that applicant in its primary medical services performers list without further enquiry.

• (7) An applicant shall notify the Health Board in writing if there is a change to any of the information which that applicant has provided as soon as possible.

Decisions and grounds for refusal and deferral

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• (1) A Health Board shall refuse to include the name of an applicant in its primary medical services performers list if–

• (a) the applicant is not a general medical practitioner;

• (b) the applicant is –