The Health Services (Pilot Schemes: Miscellaneous Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations contain miscellaneous provisions and provisions consequential on the coming into operation, on 1st April 1999, of those provisions of the Health Services (Primary Care) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 (“the 1997 Order”) relating to pilot schemes.

Part I of the Regulations is general.

Part II contains miscellaneous provisions. Regulation 2 specifies the circumstances in which a Health and Social Services Board must make arrangements for the provision of general medical services (under Article 56 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972) for a person who is provided with personal medical services under a pilot scheme under the 1997 Order. Such arrangements must be made where the personal medical services which are provided to the person in question are limited to contraceptive services and maternity medical services and, in certain circumstances, where that person is being treated as a temporary resident. Regulation 3 prescribes the categories of persons who may perform personal medical services in connection with a pilot scheme (in addition to persons who are otherwise able to perform such services under Article 12 of the 1997 Order). The categories are doctors who are in the course of undertaking part only of the experience prescribed byregulations relating to the vocational training of general medical practitioners and doctors whose experience has been certified as equivalent to the experience so prescribed.

Part III contains amendments consequential upon the coming into operation of those provisions of the 1997 Order relating to pilot schemes, and regulations thereunder.

Regulation 4 contains consequential and minor amendments to the General Medical Services Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997, required principally as a consequence of the coming into operation of the Health Services (Choice of Medical Practitioner) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 and the Health Services (Pilot Schemes: Part VI Practitioners) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998.

Regulation 5 contains consequential and minor amendments to the Health and Personal Social Services General Dental Services Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993, and regulations 6 to 14 make consequential or minor amendments to a range of subordinate legislation relating to the health and personal social services, social security and children. Regulation 15 makes a minor amendment to the Health Services (Choice of Medical Practitioner) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 to clarify that a decision on exemption from liability to have persons assigned is taken under regulation 4(8) of those regulations.

The directions to Health and Social Services Boards concerning variations of pilot schemes (personal dental services), and concerning complaints, which are referred to in these regulations, can be obtained from:

• Primary Care and Commissioning Development Directorate

• Health and Social Services Executive

• Dundonald House

• Upper Newtownards Road

• Belfast BT4 3SF.