National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973

The principal Act

10 In section 1 of the principal Act (which among other things provides for the establishment of the national health service and the provision of services in accordance with the following provisions of that Act), in subsection (1) for the words " the following provisions of this Act" there shall be substituted the words " the National Health Service Acts 1946 to 1973 " and in subsection (2) for the words " this Act" there shall be substituted the words " those Acts ".

11 In section 2 of that Act, in subsection (1) (which among other things provides for the Central Health Services Council to give advice to the Secretary of State about the services provided under that Act and any services provided by local health authorities), for the words from " under this Act" to " such authorities " there shall be substituted the words " under the National Health Service Acts 1946 to 1973 " and in subsection (3) (which among other things provides for standing advisory committees to consist partly of members appointed by the Secretary of State after consultation with that Council as being persons of experience in relevant services) the words from "after consultation with that Council" to "those services" shall be omitted.

12 (1) In section 3(2) of that Act (which relates to the supply as part of the hospital and specialist services of appliances of a more expensive type than the prescribed type and the replacement and repair of appliances), for the words " as part of the hospital and specialist services " in paragraph (a) and the words " as part of the services aforesaid " in paragraph (b) there shall be substituted the words " by him ".

(2) In section 3(3) of that Act (which relates to the payment by the Secretary of State of travelling expenses in connection with hospital and specialist services), for the words " hospital and specialist services " there shall be substituted the words " any services provided under the National Health Service Acts 1946 to 1973 ".

13 In section 4 of that Act (which relates to hospital accommodation available on part payment), for the words from " in any hospital" to " available " there shall be substituted the words " , at any hospital or group of hospitals vested in the Secretary of State or in which patients are treated under arrangements made by virtue of section 13(1) of the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 or at the hospitals in a particular area which are vested in him or in which patients are so treated, accommodation in single rooms or small wards which is not for the time being needed by any patient on medical grounds, the Secretary of State may authorise the accommodation to be made available, to such extent as he may determine, ".

14 In section 16(1) of that Act (which relates to research connected with illness), after the word " illness" there shall be inserted the words " and into such other matters connected with any service provided under the National Health Service Acts 1946 to 1973 as the Secretary of State considers appropriate ".

15 In section 17 of that Act (which authorises the Secretary of State to provide a bacteriological service for the control of infectious diseases), for the word " bacteriological" there shall be substituted the word " microbiological ".

16 In section 18 of that Act (which among other things provides that where the Secretary of State has, in providing hospital and specialist services, acquired supplies of human blood for the purpose of carrying out a blood transfusion he may arrange for the supplies to be available to local health authorities and medical practitioners who require them in cases of emergency), for the words from " in providing " to " transfusion" there shall be substituted the words " acquired supplies of human blood for the purposes of any service under the National Health Service Acts 1946 to 1973 " and for the words from " local " to " emergency " there shall be substituted the words " any person " ; and the words " in cases of emergency " where they first occur shall be omitted.

17 (1) In section 22(1) of that Act (which requires local health authorities to make arrangements for the care, including in particular dental care, of nursing and expectant mothers and young children), the words " including in particular dental care " shall be omitted.

(2) In section 22(2) of that Act (which authorises the making and recovery of certain charges with the approval of the Minister) the words " with the approval of the Minister " shall be omitted.

18 In section 32 of that Act (which relates to local representative committees)—

(a) for the words " Executive Council" in subsection (1) there shall be substituted the words " Area Health Authority ";

(b) for the words " of that area " in subsection (1)(a) there shall be substituted the words " providing general medical services or general ophthalmic services in that area " and for the words " of that area " in subsection (1)(c) there shall be substituted the words " providing general dental services in that area ";

(c) for the words " Executive Council" in subsection (2) there shall be substituted the words " Family Practitioner Committee for the area of an Area Health Authority in respect of which Local Committees are recognised in pursuance of the foregoing subsection ";

(d) for the words " Executive Council" in both places where they occur and the word " Council" in subsection (3) there shall be substituted the words " Family Practitioner Committee " and for the words "that Committee" and " the Committee " wherever they occur in that subsection there shall be substituted the words " the Local Committee "; and

(e) for the word " Committee " in both places where it occurs in subsection (4) there shall be substituted the words " Local Committee ".

19 (1) In section 33(1) of that Act (which imposes a duty on Executive Councils to make arrangements for the provision of general medical services), for the words " Executive Council" there shall be substituted the words " Area Health Authority ".

(2) After section 33(2) of that Act there shall be inserted the following subsection—

(3) Regulations under the last foregoing subsection may provide for the personal medical services there mentioned to include the provision of, and of services connected with, any such advice, examination and treatment as are mentioned in section 4 of the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973.

20 In section 34 of that Act (which relates to the distribution of medical practitioners providing services), for the words " Executive Councils", " Executive Council " and " Council" in each place where they occur there shall be substituted respectively the words " Area Health Authorities " , "Area Health Authority" and " Authority ".

21 In section 35(1) of that Act (which prohibits the sale of medical practices where the name of a medical practitioner is entered on any list of medical practitioners), in the proviso after the word " Council" there shall be inserted the words " or Area Health Authority ".

22 After subsection (3) of section 36 of that Act (of which paragraph (d) requires the payment of interest on compensation payable in pursuance of that section), there shall be inserted the following subsection—

(3A) Regulations under subsection (3)(d) of this section may provide for the interest payable on any amount of compensation to be paid at a date later than the date on which the compensation is paid.

23 At the end of section 38(3) of that Act (which relates to charges for pharmaceutical services) there shall be inserted the words " ; and it is hereby declared that regulations under this subsection may include provision in respect of charges for the supply of such substances and appliances as are mentioned in section 4 of the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 ".

24 In section 39(1) of that Act (which provides that no medical or dental practitioner may supply pharmaceutical services to a patient except as provided by regulations), for the words " Executive Council " there shall be substituted the words " Area Health Authority ".

25 (1) In section 40(1) of that Act (which imposes a duty on Executive Councils to make arrangements for the provision of general dental services), for the words "Executive Council" there shall be substituted the words " Area Health Authority ".

(2) In the proviso to section 40(1) of that Act (under which the remuneration of certain dental practitioners must not, except in special circumstances, consist wholly or mainly of a fixed salary), for the words from "except" onwards there shall be substituted the words

“consist wholly or mainly of a fixed salary unless either—

(a) the remuneration is paid in pursuance of arrangements made under section 43 of this Act; or

(b) the services are provided in prescribed circumstances and the practitioner consents;

and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State, before he prescribes any circumstances for the purposes of paragraph (b) above to consult such organisations as appear to him to be representative of the dental profession”.

(3) At the end of section 40(2)(d) of that Act (which provides that regulations may prescribe duties of the Dental Estimates Board), there shall be inserted the words " and to the remuneration of dental practitioners providing general dental services ".

(4) In section 40(2)(e) of that Act (which provides that regulations may make provision for certain matters in relation to the Board), for the words " Executive Council" there shall be substituted the words " Area Health Authority " and for the words "the supplementary provisions of the Fifth Schedule to this Art" there shall be substituted the words " Part III of Schedule 1 to the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 ".

26 In section 41(1) of that Act (which imposes a duty on Executive Councils to provide general ophthalmic services), for the words from " Part II" to " specialist services " there shall be substituted the words " section 2 of the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 to provide " and for the words " Executive Council" there shall be substituted the words " Area Health Authority ".

27 In section 42 of that Act (which provides for the constitution of a tribunal to enquire into cases of disqualification of practitioners), for the words " Executive Council" in each place where they occur and for the word " Councils " there shall be substituted respectively the words " Area Health Authority " and " Authorities ".

28 In section 43 of that Act (which provides that the Secretary of State may make arrangements for services where services are inadequate), for the words " Executive Council" in both places where they occur there shall be substituted the words " Area Health Authority ".

29 In section 47 of that Act (which provides for disputes to be referred to the Secretary of State), for the words " Executive Council " where they first occur there shall be substituted the words " Area Health Authority " and the words from " or between " to " health centre " shall be omitted.

30 In section 54(6) of that Act (which provides for payments under the section to be made in accordance with regulations), after the word " otherwise " there shall be inserted the word " as ".

31 (1) In section 55 of that Act (which relates to the accounts of existing health authorities), in subsection (2) for the words from the beginning to " Council" there shall be substituted the words " Every Regional Health Authority, Area Health Authority, special health authority, all Special Trustees appointed in pursuance of section 29(1) of the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 and the Dental Estimates Board ".

(2) In subsection (3) of that section, for the words " Committee and Council" there shall be substituted the words " Authority, special health authority and all such Special Trustees " and at the end of the subsection there shall be inserted the words " ; and the accounts prepared and transmitted by an Area Health Authority in pursuance of this subsection shall include annual accounts of the Family Practitioner Committees established by the Authority and of any Community Health Council of which the district includes any part of the Authority's area. "

(3) In subsection (4) of that section, for the words " Boards, Committees and Councils " there shall be substituted the words " Authorities, special authorities and Special Trustees ".

32 In section 57(1) of that Act (which confers default powers on the Secretary of State), for the words from "Regional Hospital Board" to " Executive Council" there shall be substituted the words " Regional Health Authority, Area Health Authority, special health authority, Family Practitioner Committee ", and after the words " this Act" there shall be inserted the words " or the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 ".

33 In section 70 of that Act (which provides that the Secretary of State may hold an inquiry in connection with matters arising under that Act), after the words " this Act" there shall be inserted the words " or the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 ".

34 In section 71 of that Act (which provides for the recovery of charges), after the words " this Act" in both places where they occur there shall be inserted the words " or the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 ".

35 In secton 72 of that Act (which applies the provisions of section 265 of the [1875 c. 55.] Public Health Act 1875 relating to the protection of members and officers of certain authorities), for the words from " Regional Hospital Board " to " Executive Council" there shall be substituted the words " Regional Health Authority, an Area Health Authority, a special health authority and a Family Practitioner Committee " and for the words " this Act" there shall be substituted the words " the National Health Service Acts 1946 to 1973 "

36 In section 74 of that Act (which relates to miscellaneous administrative matters), in paragraph (c) after the words " this Act" there shall be inserted the words " or the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 " and the words " local health authorities and " shall be omitted.

37 In section 79(1) of that Act (interpretation), in the de6nition of " medicine", for the words " includes any prescribed chemical re-agent" there shall be substituted the words " includes such chemical re-agents as are included in a list for the time being approved by the Secretary of State for the purposes of section 38(1) of this Act ".

38 In Schedule 1 to that Act (which provides for the constitution of the Central Council and advisory committees), in paragraph 3 the words from " and the Central Council" onwards shall be omitted and in paragraph 4 after the word " fit " there shall be inserted the words " and as are approved by the Secretary of State ".

39 In Schedule 7 to that Act, in paragraph 3 (which provides for associations of Executive Councils to be consulted about the appointment of one member of the tribunal concerned with the removal of names from the list of persons undertaking to provide services under Part IV of that Act), for the words " Executive Councils" in both places there shall be substituted the words " Family Practitioner Committees ".