The Health and Personal Social Services (Fund-holding Practices) Amendment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations).

These Regulations amend the Health and Personal Social Services (Fund-holding Practices) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993, which regulate the recognition and operation of fund-holding practices.

Regulation 4 amends regulation 8 of the principal Regulations to provide that where a member of a fund-holding practice withdraws from the practice, a part of any savings accumulated by the fund-holding practice may be applied by the Health and Social Services Board for the benefit of his patients.

Regulation 5 amends regulation 10 of the principal Regulations to require a former fund-holding practice to apply any accumulated savings to discharge its outstanding liabilities. It also provides that where such liabilities have been discharged and any money remains in the fund-holding account, the former fund-holding practice shall apply that money as if it were savings.

Regulation 7 amends regulation 18 of the principal Regulations to increase from £5,000 to £6,000 the amount which a fund-holding practice may spend on the provision of goods and services to any one individual in any financial year.

Regulation 8 amends regulation 19 of the principal Regulations to make it clear that the allotted sum can be used for employment costs other than salaries. It can be used for the same costs which Health and Social Services Boards can pay to doctors in connection with the provision of general medical services. These are set out in the Statement referred to in regulation 19(2).

Regulation 9 provides for the payment of a management allowance to be spent on certain management expenses.

Regulation 10 amends regulation 20 of the principal Regulations to extend the purposes for which members of a fund-holding practice may make payments to themselves out of their allotted sum.

Regulation 11 amends regulation 21 of the principal Regulations to extend the purposes on which a fund-holding practice may spend savings and introduces a requirement that the Health and Social Services Board consent to such expenditure.

Regulation 13 provides for the transfer to the Health and Social Services Boards of the Department’s function under Article 18(1) of the 1991 Order of being liable to pay a sum to the members of a fund-holding practice.

Regulations 14 and 15 amend the Schedules to the principal Regulations to reduce the list size requirement for recognition as a fund-holding practice from 7,000 to 5,000, and to remove the requirement that a fund-holding practice may not include two members who practise in partnerships whose list size exceeds 7,000. Schedule 2 to the principal Regulations is also amended to require the members of a fund-holding practice to send Health and Social Services Boards information about proposed and past expenditure of their allotted sums. Schedule 3 to the principal Regulations is revoked.

The Regulations also make a number of amendments which are minor in nature or are consequential drafting amendments.