The National Health Service (Functions of Health Authorities) (Complaints) Regulations 1996

Made: 8th March 1996

Laid before Parliament: 8th March 1996

Coming into force: 1st April 1996

The Secretary of State for Health, in exercise of powers conferred on him by sections 15(1)(b) and 126(4) of the National Health Service Act 1977[^f00001] and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:—

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the National Health Service (Functions of Health Authorities) (Complaints) Regulation 1996 and shall come into force on 1st April 1996.

• (2) In these regulations—

• “the Act” means the National Health Service Act 1977;

• “directions” means directions given by the Secretary of State under section 17 of the Act;

• “family health service practitioner” means a person who provides any of the services to be provided under Part II of the Act, that is to say, general medical services, general dental services, general ophthalmic services or pharmaceutical services;

Prescribed function of Health Authorities

2

For the purposes of section 15(1)(b) of the Act, it shall be a prescribed function of each Health Authority to establish and operate in accordance with directions procedures for dealing with complaints about family health service practitioners.

Signed

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health,

John Horam — Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, — Department of Health — 8th March 1996

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations confer on Health Authorities the function of establishing and operating procedures for dealing with complaints about family health service practitioners (definition in article 1 of the Regulations) in accordance with directions made by the Secretary of State under the National Health Service Act 1977.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1977 c. 49. See section 128(1) as amended by section 26(2)(g) and (i) of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 (c. 19) (“the 1990 Act”) for the definitions of “prescribed” and “regulations”. Section 15 is amended by section 5(2) of the Health and Social Security Act 1984 (c. 48), by section 12(1) of the 1990 Act and by section 2 of, and paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 to, the Health Authorities Act 1995 (c. 17). Section 126(4) was amended by section 65(2) of the 1990 Act.