The National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Amendment Regulations 1995

Statutory Instruments

1995 No. 34

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, ENGLAND AND WALES

The National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Amendment Regulations 1995

Made

10th January 1995

Laid before Parliament

11th January 1995

Coming into force

1st February 1995

The Secretary of State for Health, in exercise of powers conferred on her by section 126(4) of, and paragraph 2A of Schedule 12 to, the National Health Service Act 1977(1) and of all other powers enabling her in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:—

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Amendment Regulations 1995 and shall come into force on 1st February 1995.

Amendment of regulation 1 of the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Regulations 1989

2.  In regulation 1(2) of the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Regulations 1989(2) (interpretation), in paragraph (a) of the definition of “NHS sight test fee”, for “£34.22” there is substituted “£35.09”.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health

Gerald Malone

Minister of State,

Department of Health

10th January 1995

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations further amend the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Regulations 1989, which provide for payments to be made by means of a voucher system in respect of costs incurred by certain categories of persons in connection with the supply, replacement and repair of optical appliances.

Regulation 2 further amends the definition of “NHS sight test fee” in regulation 1(2) of the 1989 Regulations by increasing by approximately 3% the amount by which entitlement to assistance towards the cost of a private sight test carried out at a place where the patient normally resides, and the value of a voucher towards such cost or towards the supply (in certain circumstances) of glasses or contact lenses, is calculated.

(1)

1977 c. 49; seesection 128(1) as amended by the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 (c. 19) (“the 1990 Act”), section 26(2)(g) and (i), for the definitions of “prescribed” and “regulations”. Section 126(4) was amended by the 1990 Act, section 65(2). Paragraph 2A of Schedule 12 was inserted by the Health and Social Security Act 1984 (c. 48), Schedule 1, Part I, paragraph 3 and amended by the Health and Medicines Act 1988 (c. 49), section 13(2) and (3).

(2)

S.I. 1989/396; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1991/2465 (which substituted a new definition of “NHS sight test fee”), S.I. 1992/404, 1994/131 and 1994/2619.