The National Health Service (Vocational Training for General Medical Practice) Regulations 1997

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations revoke and replace the National Health Service (Vocational Training) Regulations 1979 and the Regulations which amended them.

The Regulations prescribe the medical experience which, under section 31 of the National Health Service Act 1977, a medical practitioner is required to have acquired before being included in a Health Authority’s list of practitioners undertaking to provide general medical services (regulations 4 and 6). They also prescribe the circumstances in which medical practitioners are exempt from the need to have acquired the prescribed medical experience (regulation 5). They provide for the Joint Committee on Postgraduate Training for General Practice (“the Joint Committee”) to approve practitioners as GP trainers (regulation 7) and hospital and community training posts (regulation 8) and for an appeal to the Secretary of State by a practitioner who has been refused approval as a GP trainer (regulation 7). The Regulations also introduce a procedure for summative assessment of experience gained during the prescribed training as a General Practice (GP) Registrar (regulation 9 and Schedule 2).

The Regulations require the Joint Committee to issue a medical practitioner with a certificate of prescribed experience if they are satisfied that he has acquired the necessary experience (regulation 10), or a certificate of equivalent experience if they are satisfied that he has acquired experience which is equivalent to the prescribed experience (regulations 11 and 12).

The Regulations provide for the establishment and procedure of an appeal body to hear appeals against the refusal of a certificate of prescribed or equivalent experience (regulation 14) and for the procedure to be followed on appeal (regulations 16 and 17 and Schedule 4).

The Regulations give effect to Title IV of Council Directive 93/16/EEC of 5th April 1993 to facilitate the free movement of doctors and the mutual recognition of their diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications (which is referred to in these Regulations as “the Medical Directive”), as read with the Agreement on the European Economic Area (“EEA”) signed at Oporto on 2nd May 1992 (as adjusted). Title IV of the Medical Directive is about vocational training for doctors providing general medical services in the national social security schemes of the member States. The Regulations also make provision relating to a person who is not a national of a member state of the EEA, but who is entitled to be treated no less favourably than an EEA national by virtue of a right conferred by article 11 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1612/68 (OJ No. L 257, 19.10.1968, p.1) or any other enforceable Community right (such as those derived from articles 48 and 52 of the Treaty of Rome).

With the exception of regulation 3 (power of direction), which is made under powers in section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972, most of the provisions of the Regulations could be made under powers in the National Health Service Act 1977. Community obligations are, however, of relevance to provisions of the Regulations other than regulation 3, including specifically regulation 6(6) (supervision of training by the Joint Committee) and regulations 7 (approval of trainers) and 8 (approval of training posts).