The National Health Service (Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 2003

Entitlement to full remission and payment

3.—(1) Any person of a description prescribed by regulation 4 is entitled, in accordance with the following provisions of these Regulations, to the remission of the whole amount of any charges specified in paragraph (2) which would otherwise be payable by that person (“relevant charges”), and to payment, in accordance with regulation 6, of the whole amount of the travelling expenses including, where applicable, the whole amount of the overnight accommodation expenses, referred to in paragraphs (3), (4) and (5) (“relevant travelling expenses”).

(2) The specified charges for the purpose of paragraph (1) are–

(a) charges for drugs, medicines, appliances and pharmaceutical services payable in pursuance of section 69(1) of the Act(1); and

(b) charges for dental appliances and dental treatment payable in pursuance of section 70(1A)(2) or section 71(1)(3) of the Act(4) or of section 20(1) of the National Health Service (Primary Care) Act 1997(5).

(3) Paragraph (1) applies in the case of travelling expenses necessarily incurred or to be incurred by a person in attending a hospital for the purpose of availing that person of services provided under the care of a hospital consultant in pursuance of the Act, and includes the travelling expenses of a companion in a case where it is necessary on medical grounds for that person to be accompanied.

(4) Paragraph (1) applies in the case of overnight accommodation expenses necessarily incurred in obtaining such accommodation for the purpose of paragraph (3) by a person or a companion whose travelling expenses are payable by virtue of that paragraph.

(5) The travelling expenses, including as applicable overnight accommodation expenses, to be taken into account for the purposes of paragraphs (3) and (4) are to be the costs of travelling by the cheapest means of transport and of overnight accommodation in the cheapest facilities reasonably available.

(1)

For the applicable charges see S.S.I. 2001/430; amended by S.S.I. 2002/100 and 2003/130 and 295.

(2)

Section 70(1A) was inserted by the Health and Medicines Act 1988 (c. 49) (“the 1988 Act”), section 11(4).

(3)

Section 71(1) was amended by the 1988 Act, Schedule 3.

(4)

For the applicable charges see S.I. 1988/464

(5)

1997 c. 46.