National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978

Withdrawal of health service pay beds and services from private patients

59 Withdrawal of facilities available for private patients

(1) Sections 60 to 63 have effect for the purpose of—

(a) securing the separation of the facilities available in Scotland for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness under private arrangements from the facilities available for those purposes at premises vested in the Secretary of State; and

(b) to that end securing the progressive withdrawal of accommodation and services at health service hospitals from use in connection with the treatment of persons at such hospitals as resident or non-resident private patients.

(2) Nothing in this Part prejudices the operation of paragraph 8 of Schedule 1 (by virtue of which regulations governing the terms of employment of officers employed by a Health Board must not contain a requirement that all consultants so employed shall be so employed whole-time).

60 Revocation of authorisations under section 57 or section 58

(1) It shall continue to be the duty of the Health Services Board to submit to the Secretary of State from time to time in accordance with this section proposals for the progressive revocation of—

(a) the authorisations under section 57(1) or those granted by virtue of section 63(3), and

(b) the authorisations under section 58(1) or those which have been granted by virtue of section 63(3),

and it shall be the Secretary of State's duty to give effect to all proposals so submitted.

(2) The Health Services Board shall in the 6 months beginning with the date on which its first proposals were submitted under section 4(2) of the [1976 c. 83.] Health Services Act 1976, and in each successive period of 6 months thereafter, submit further proposals under this section or, if in all the circumstances it decides that the submission of further proposals in any particular period of 6 months is unnecessary, shall instead prepare and submit to the Secretary of State a report explaining the Board's reasons for that decision.

(3) In formulating proposals under this section the Board shall—

(a) have regard to the principles set out in section 62 ; and

(b) consider any representations made to the Board by—

(i) the Secretary of State ;

(ii) any body which is representative of medical practitioners or dental practitioners or of persons employed in the health service or concerned with the interests of patients at health service hospitals ;

(iii) any other person having a substantial interest in the proposals.

In deciding what advice to give the Board in connection with the formulation of any such proposals the Board's Scottish Committee shall likewise have regard to the principles set out in section 62 and shall consider any representations made to the Committee by any of the persons or bodies mentioned in this subsection.

(4) Each set of proposals under this section shall specify—

(a) the accommodation and services authorisation of which under section 57(1) or section 58(1) should be revoked and

(b) the date before which the necessary revocations should take effect,

and may specify different dates for different accommodation or services so specified.

61 Further provisions as to revocation of section 58 authorisations

(1) Without prejudice to subsection (3) of section 60, the Health Services Board, in formulating proposals under that section for the revocation of authorisations given under section 58(1) in respect of accommodation or services at any particular health service hospital or hospitals, and the Scottish Committee in deciding what advice to give the Board in connection with the formulation of any such proposals—

(a) shall have regard to the purposes and specialties for which the accommodation or services in question are available for use in connection with the treatment of non-resident private patients, and

(b) shall apply the principles set out in section 62 separately in respect of different purposes and specialties,

and the Board may formulate separate proposals in respect of different purposes or specialties accordingly.

(2) As regards the revocation of authorisations under section 58(1), any proposals under section 60 relating to—

(a) accommodation available to consultants for the purpose of affording consultations to their private patients, or

(b) accommodation and services available for the following specialties, namely, radiotherapy, diagnostic pathology and diagnostic radiology (including scanning, ultrasonics and methods involving the use of radio-isotopes),

shall be formulated by the Board as separate proposals.

(3) Without prejudice to section 60 and the preceding provisions of this section, the Health Services Board shall, as regards the revocation of authorisations under section 58(1), submit separate proposals under section 60 relating to—

(a) accommodation and services available for the specialties other than radiotherapy mentioned in subsection (2)(b), and

(b) other accommodation and services available for diagnostic purposes,

and shall do so not later than the end of the 12 months following the initial period defined by the [1976 c. 83.] Health Services Act 1976 (that is the period of 6 months beginning with the date on which that Act was passed), or, if a period longer than the initial period has been allowed under that Act for the submission of the Board's first proposals under this section, the 12 months following that longer period.

62 Principles as to proposals under section 60 or section 61

The principles referred to in sections 60 and 61 are—

(a) that accommodation or services at any particular health service hospital or hospitals should remain authorised under section 57 or section 58 for use in connection with the treatment of resident or non-resident private patients only while there is a reasonable demand for accommodation and facilities for the private practice of medicine and dentistry in the area or areas served by the hospital or hospitals in question;

(b) that the authorisation of any such accommodation or services under those provisions for use in that connection should be revoked only if sufficient accommodation and facilities for the private practice of medicine and dentistry are otherwise reasonably available (whether privately or at health service hospitals) to meet the reasonable demand for them in the area or areas served by the hospital or hospitals in question;

(c) that the continued authorisation of any such accommodation or services under those provisions for use in that connection should depend on there having been or being taken all reasonable steps to provide, otherwise than at health service hospitals, sufficient reasonable accommodation and facilities for the private practice of medicine and dentistry to meet the reasonable demand for them in the area or areas served by the hospital or hospitals in question;

(d) that failure, in the circumstances mentioned in paragraph (c), to take all reasonable steps that could be taken to provide as mentioned in that paragraph would itself be grounds for the Health Services Board, after giving due warning to persons likely to be affected thereby of the likely consequences of such failure, to propose the revocation of the authorisations under those provisions relating to accommodation or services at the hospital or hospitals in question.

63 Restrictions on authorisations under section 57 or section 58

(1) No authorisation under section 57(1) or section 58(1)—

(a) shall be granted, except by virtue of subsection (2) or subsection (4); and

(b) shall be, other than one granted on a temporary basis as mentioned in subsection (4), to any extent revoked otherwise than in accordance with proposals submitted to the Secretary of State by the Health Services Board under section 60.

(2) The Health Services Board may submit to the Secretary of State proposals for securing that in any case where one or more beds authorised under section 57(1) cease to be available to resident private patients, or any accommodation or services authorised under section 58(1) cease to be available to non-resident private patients, in consequence of the permanent closure of any health service hospital accommodation in Scotland independently of any proposals submitted by the Board under section 60, the total number of effective beds, or the total amount of effective accommodation or services, as the case may be, so authorised in Scotland is not thereby reduced below what it would be if—

(a) the closed accommodation had remained in use, but

(b) effect had been given by the Secretary of State to all proposals under section 60 which were received by him before the submission of the proposals in question under this subsection.

(3) It shall be the Secretary of State's duty to grant such authorisations under section 57(1) or section 58(1), as the case may be, as are needed to give effect to any proposals submitted to him under subsection (2).

(4) Where any health service hospital accommodation in Scotland is temporarily closed (whether at the instance of the Secretary of State or not) for physical or other reasons outside his control, the Secretary of State shall, without the need for any proposals by the Board, grant on a temporary basis such authorisations under section 57(1) or section 58(1) as he would have been able to grant by virtue of subsections (2) and (3) if—

(a) the closure had been permanent; and

(b) the Board had submitted to him any proposals which it could in that case have submitted to him under subsection (2).

(5) Subject to the restrictions imposed by this section, section 57 or, as the case may be, section 58 shall continue to have effect in relation to any accommodation or services to which an authorisation under section 57(1) or section 58(1) relates.