The National Health Service (Primary Medical Services Section 17C Agreements) (Scotland) Regulations 2004

Termination of responsibility for patients not registered with the provider

9.—(1) Where the provider–

(a) has no provider’s list of patients but is required in terms of the agreement to accept a person as a patient for the provision of an additional service, an enhanced service or out of hours services; or

(b) has a provider’s list of patients and has received an application for the provision of clinical services other than essential services–

(i) from a person who is not included in the provider’s list of patients;

(ii) from a person whom the provider has not accepted as a temporary resident; or

(iii) on behalf of a person mentioned in (i) or (ii) above, from one of the persons specified in paragraph 9(4) of Schedule 2;

and has accepted that person as a patient for the provision of the service in question, the provider’s responsibility for that patient may be terminated in one of the circumstances referred to in sub-paragraph (2).

(2) The circumstances referred to in sub-paragraph (1) are–

(a) the patient informs the provider that the patient no longer wishes the provider to be responsible for the provision of the service in question;

(b) in cases where the provider has reasonable grounds for terminating the provider’s responsibility which do not relate to the person’s race, gender, social class, age, religion, sexual orientation, appearance, disability or medical condition, the provider informs the patient that the provider no longer wishes to be responsible for providing the patient with the service in question;

(c) the patient has committed an act of violence against–

(i) an individual that is a party to the agreement;

(ii) a partner in a partnership that is a party to the agreement;

(iii) a legal and beneficial owner of shares in a company that is a party to the agreement;

(iv) a member of the provider’s staff;

(v) a person engaged by the provider to perform or assist in the performance of services under the agreement; or

(vi) any other person present–

(aa) on the practice premises; or

(bb) in the place where services were provided to the patient under the agreement,

or behaved in such a way that any such person has feared for that person’s own safety and, in either case, the provider has reported that incident to the police or the Procurator Fiscal;

(d) it comes to the notice of the provider that the patient–

(i) no longer resides in the area for which the provider has agreed to provide the service; or

(ii) is no longer a person to which the provider has agreed to provide the service.

(3) A provider who wishes to terminate its responsibility for a patient under sub paragraph (2)(b) or (c) shall notify the patient of the termination and the reason for it.

(4) The provider shall keep a written record of terminations under this paragraph and of the reason for them and shall make this record available to the Health Board on request.

(5) A termination under–

(a) sub-paragraph (2)(b) shall take effect 14 days from the date on which notice is given; and

(b) sub-paragraph (2)(c) shall take effect from the date on which notice is given.