The National Health Service (Tribunal) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2006

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the National Health Service (Tribunal) (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (“the principal Regulations”) which make provision relating to the NHS Tribunal and representation to and procedures before it.

These Regulations are consequential upon the coming into force of certain amendments made to the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 (“the 1978 Act”) by the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 (“the 2005 Act”). Section 26 of the 2005 Act amends section 29 of the 1978 Act by adding a third condition for disqualification by the Tribunal, namely that the person concerned is unsuitable (by virtue of professional or personal conduct) to be included, or continue to be included in a list specified in section 29(8) of the 1978 Act.

Regulation 2(2)(a) deletes from regulation 2(1) of the principal Regulations the definition of “local or national disqualification” which is removed from section 29B(2) of the 1978 Act by section 26(4)(b) of the 2005 Act.

Regulation 2(2)(b) inserts new definitions of “any of the conditions for disqualification”, “ophthalmic body corporate”, “third condition for disqualification” and “unsuitability case” into regulation 2(1) of the principal Regulations. The definition of “ophthalmic body corporate” is by reference to section 9 of the Opticians Act 1989, as amended by the Opticians Act 1989 (Amendment) Order 2005.

Regulation 2(2)(c) amends the definition of “disqualification” in the principal Regulations to reflect the amendment to the 1978 Act.

Regulation 2(2)(d) amends the definition of “ophthalmic medical practitioner” to refer to the relevant provisions in the National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

The Regulations amend the principal Regulations to substitute “any of the conditions” for disqualification for “the first or second condition” for disqualification to reflect the fact that there are now three conditions for disqualification rather than two (regulations 2(2)(e), 3, 8(a)).

Regulation 2(4) amends regulation 6(3A) of the principal Regulations to include practitioners who have applied to join an ophthalmic list, but whose application has been deferred.

Regulations 2(5), (6) and (7) amend regulations 9(3), 15(3)(c) and 17(1)(a) of the principal Regulations to reflect the fact that the provisions will now apply to all cases.

The Regulations delete all reference to the principal Regulations to a “declaration of unfitness”, since the references to “declaration of unfitness” in section 30 of the 1978 Act are repealed by the 2005 Act.

Regulation 2(17) substitutes the forms 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 in the Schedule to the Regulations for forms 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 in Schedule 2 to the principal Regulations.

Regulation 3 is a savings provision which provides that any submission of representations or applications for interim suspensions which were made before 1st April 2006 shall be dealt with in terms of the principal Regulations as unamended by these Regulations.