The National Health Service (General Medical and Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Amendment (No.2) Regulations 1989

Schedule 1 to these Regulations amends Part I of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations which contains the “terms of service” under which doctors provide general medical services to their patients. A new paragraph 3A is inserted into those terms of service to make provision for the standard of skill, knowledge and care to be expected from doctors providing child health surveillance services and minor surgery services, and an amendment is made to the definition of a doctor’s patients in paragraph 4 to include those persons to whom he provides such services. New paragraphs 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, and 6E of the terms of service and new Parts IA and IB of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations are inserted to make detailed provision for the nature and application of child health surveillance services and minor surgery services.

Paragraph 9 (service to patients) is amended to specify the nature of the services to be provided by a doctor, including the giving of general advice in relation to the health of his patients and the provision of consultations, vaccinations and referrals. A new paragraph 9A is inserted to oblige a doctor to produce annually, and to make available to the Board, to his patients and to certain other persons, a practice leaflet which must include certain information (specified in a new Part IC of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations) about the personal medical services he provides.

New paragraphs 10A, 10B and 10C of the terms of service are inserted to provide that a doctor is, in addition to his general obligations, required to offer a consultation to newly registered patients (new paragraph 10A), to patients whom he has not seen within the preceding 3 years (new paragraph 10B) and to patients who have attained the age of 75 (new paragraph 10C).

An amendment is made also in paragraph 10 in connection with the employment of assistants and deputies by doctors when providing child health surveillance services or minor surgery services.

Paragraph 11 of the terms of service is amended to provide that a doctor is at all times responsible for the provision of general medical services to his patients, while enabling those doctors who have before 1st April 1990 been relieved by the Board of such responsibility at certain times to continue to enjoy such relief after that date.

A new paragraph 12A is inserted in the terms of service to require a doctor to satisfy himself as to the suitability and competence of prospective employees, having regard in particular to any guidance to doctors by the Board under the new regulation 33A in the principal Regulations (inserted by regulation 14) Paragraph 13 is amended to require a doctor to notify the Board of any change in his place of residence.

A new paragraph 13A is inserted in the terms of service to require a doctor to obtain the approval of the Board for the times and places at which he proposes to be available for consultation by his patients, and new paragraphs 13B, 13C, 13D and 13E are also inserted to make provision for the circumstances in which, and the extent to which, a Board may approve a proposal by a doctor to be available for fewer hours, or on fewer days, in each week than are specified in the new paragraph 13A. A new Part ID is inserted in Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations to specify the information to be included in applications by doctors for the purposes of paragraph 13A.

New paragraph 19A obliges a doctor to provide annually to the Board a report which must include certain information (specified in a new Part IE of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations) about his practice and paragraph 20 is amended to enable an ophthalmic doctor to demand or accept a fee or remuneration for testing the sight of a patient.

These Regulations also effect consequential amendments in the principal Regulations arising out of and in connection with the changes mentioned above.

The Regulations come into effect, in terms of regulation 2(2), for certain purposes on 22nd November 1989, for certain other purposes on 1st January 1990, and for all remaining purposes on 1st April 1990.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1978 c. 29; section 19 was amended by the Health Services Act 1980 (c. 53) (“the 1980 Act”), section 7, the Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudications Act 1983 (c. 41) (“the 1983 Act”), Schedule 7, paragraph 2, and the Medical Act 1983 (c. 54), Schedule 5, paragraph 17(a); the provisions of section 19 are subject to the Health and Medicines Act 1988 (c. 49), section 17; section 105(7), which was amended by the 1983 Act, Schedule 9, paragraph 24, contains provisions, and section 108(1) contains definitions of “prescribed” and “regulations”, relevant to the exercise of the statutory powers under which these Regulations are made.

[^f00002]: 1988 c. 49; the relevant commencement provision is contained in S.I. 1989/1984; the provisions relevant to which this power is exercised came into force on 31st October 1989.

[^f00003]: 1971 c. 62

[^f00004]: S.I. 1974/506; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1975/696, 1978/1762, 1981/56, 1982/1279, 1985/296, 804, 1625 and 1987/385

[^f00005]: 1983 c. 54

[^f00006]: 1978 c. 29

[^f00007]: 1978 c. 29; section 26 was amended by the Health and Social Security Act 1984 (c. 48), Schedules 1 and 8 and by the Health and Medicines Act 1988, section 13(4).

[^f00008]: S.I. 1980/30, amended by S.I. 1986/1657