The National Health Service (Fund-holding Amendment Regulations 1998 Practices)

PART III OTHER AMENDMENTS

Entry to fund-holding

9.—(1) Regulation 5 of the principal Regulations (grant of recognition as a fund-holding practice) is amended as follows.

(2) In paragraph (2)(a)(i), for “1st April 1999” (in both places) substitute “1st April 2001”.

(3) In paragraph (2)(a)(ii)

(a) for “1st April 1999” substitute “1st April 2001”;

(b) for “1st April 2001” substitute “1st April 2005”; and

(c) for “1st April 2003” substitute “1st April 2009”.

Redundancy payments

10.—(1) In regulation 23 of the principal Regulations (payment for management expenses)—

(a) in paragraph (2), after “management expenses” insert “other than on the expenses referred to in sub-paragraph (7)(j)”;

(b) in paragraph (7), at the end of sub-paragraph (h) omit “and”, and at the end of sub-paragraph (i) insert—

“; and

(j) the costs of redundancy payments to staff employed in connection with the management of the allotted sum (but only to the extent that such payments could be made by virtue of paragraph 52(3)(vi) of the Statement referred to in regulation 22(2)).”.

(2) In regulation 25 of the principal Regulations (savings from the allotted sum), in paragraph (2), for “22 and 24” substitute “22, 23(7)(j) and 24”.

(3) After regulation 25 insert—

“Redundancy payments

25A.— (1) Where the members of a fund-holding practice apply any part of the allotted sum for the purposes of paying redundancy payments under regulation 22 or 23(7)(j), they shall secure that for the purpose of making any such payment the allotted sum is applied in the following order—

(a) first, the payment is to be met (to the extent that it is permissible to do so under regulation 23) from the available management allowance for the financial year in which the payment is made (“the current year”);

(b) the payment is then to be met from available savings; and

(c) only then is the payment to be met from any other part of the current year’s allotted sum.

(2) In paragraph (1), “available” means free from any binding obligation to apply for other purposes (but savings are not “available” if the Health Authority has consented in accordance with regulation 25(2) to their application for a purpose for which consent is required, even if no binding obligation to apply them for that purpose has yet been entered into).”.

Savings

11.—(1) Regulation 25 of the principal Regulations (savings from the allottedsum) is amended as provided in paragraphs (2) to (4) of this regulation.

(2) In paragraphs (2) and (2A), for “Subject to paragraph (3),” substitute “Subject to paragraphs (3), (3B) and (3C),”.

(3) In paragraph (3)(1)—

(a) at the beginning insert “Subject to paragraphs (3B) and (3C),”;

(b) for sub-paragraph (a) substitute—

“(a) that the proposed expenditure would—

(i) provide a benefit for the patients of members of the practice, and

(ii) provide that benefit in the most reasonably economic way having regard to alternative methods of providing the same benefit, and

(iii) represent value for money; and”; and

(c) after sub-paragraph (b) insert—

“; and

(c) that where the proposed expenditure is under sub-paragraph (a) or (c) of paragraph (2) and the purchase of the material or equipment, or the expenditure on premises (as the case may be), is intended to provide a benefit to the patients of the members of the practice, it could not reasonably be procured for them in an equally or a more economic way under regulation 20.”.

(4) After paragraph (3A) insert—

“(3B) The Health Authority shall not, in any one financial year, consent under paragraph (2) to the application for any of the purposes specified in paragraph (2)(a) to (f) or (2A) of a total of more than £90,000 of savings (irrespective of whether more than one consent has been sought, and whenever any such consent was sought).

(3C) The members of a fund-holding practice shall not apply savings of any amount greater than £90,000 in any one financial year for the purposes specified in paragraph (2)(a) to (f) or paragraph (2A).”.

(5) The amendments made by paragraph (3)(a) and (4) of this regulation do not affect any consent given before this regulation came into force, or the application of savings for any of the purposes specified in paragraph (2)(a) to (f) or (2A) of the principal Regulations pursuant to a consent given before this regulation came into force; and in such cases—

(a) regulation 25 of the principal Regulations shall continue to apply in relation to that consent, or to the application of those savings, as if the amendments referred to above had not been made; and

(b) the application of those savings shall not be taken into account under regulation 25(3C) of the principal Regulations.

Accelerated change of status

12.—(1) In regulation 1 of the principal Regulations (citation, commencement and interpretation), in paragraph (9), at the beginning insert “Subject to regulation 10A(2) and (6),”.

(2) After regulation 10 of the principal Regulations insert the following regulation—

“Accelerated change of status to GP commissioning group

10A.— (1) This regulation makes additional provision for a standard fund-holding practice or a community fund-holding practice to become a GP commissioning group.

(2) A standard fund-holding practice or a community fund-holding practice may apply, by sending an application to the Health Authority not later than 30th June 1998, to become a GP commissioning group, and for the purposes of this paragraph an application may be sent by fax.

(3) Subject to the provisions of this regulation such an application (if granted) shall take effect on the date when it was granted or (if later) on the date when the conditions referred to in paragraph (4) are met.

(4) Those conditions are—

(a) that the applicant fund-holding practice surrender to the Health Authority any part of the allotted sum for the financial year 1998-99 which remains in the fund-holding account which is not required for meeting liabilities of the practice arising out of obligations assumed before the application under this regulation was granted; and

(b) that the applicant fund-holding practice notify the Health Authority that they are prepared to accept the amount specified in the notice referred to in regulation 18(3) (as applied with modifications by paragraph (7) of this regulation) as their proposed allotted sum for the financial year 1998-99.

(5) As respects the liabilities referred to in paragraph (4)(a), the members of the fund-holding practice shall continue to apply that part of the allotted sum not surrendered to the Health Authority as if they had not become a GP commissioning group.

(6) Regulation 3 (except for paragraph (4)), regulation 5(1), and regulation 6 shall apply to such an application as they apply to an application for recognition as a fund-holding practice, but as if the references in those regulations—

(a) to an application were references to an application under this regulation; and

(b) to the grant or refusal of recognition were references to the grant or refusal of an application under this regulation,

and for the purposes of this regulation any notice referred to in those regulations may be sent by fax or by electronic mail.

(7) The allotted sum for the financial year 1998-99 of a GP commissioning group resulting from a successful application under this regulation shall be determined anew in accordance with regulation 18, but as if—

(a) the references in that regulation to a fund-holding practice or a recognised fund-holding practice were to a practice whose application under this regulation had been granted; and

(b) the words “, by 28th February in any year,” were omitted from paragraph (2).”.

(3) In regulation 18 (determination of allotted sum), in paragraph (1), at the beginning insert “Subject to regulation 10A,”.

Amendment of regulation 12 of the principal Regulations

13.  In regulation 12 of the principal Regulations (consequences of renunciation of recognition), at the end of paragraph (3) insert—

• “(and for this purpose regulation 25(2) shall apply as if the reference there to regulation 23(7)(j) were to regulation 23, and regulation 23(2) shall not apply).”.

Amendment of regulation 7 of National Health Services (Fund-holding Practices) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 1997

14.—(1) Regulation 7 of the National Health Service (Fund-holding Practices) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 1997(2) (outstanding applications) is amended as follows.

(2) In paragraph (1)—

(a) for “31st July 1997” substitute “31st March 1998”;

(b) for “1st April 1988” substitute “1st April 2000”;

(c) for “1st April 1999” substitute “1st April 2001”; and

(d) for “to the countrary” substitute “to the contrary”.

(3) In each of paragraphs (2) and (4), for “31st July 1998” substitute “31st July 2000”.

(4) In paragraph (4), after the words “Health Board”, insert “or, as the case may be, performing personal medical services under a pilot scheme to which a Health Board is a party,”.

(1)

Paragraph (3) was substituted by S.I. 1997/1678.

(2)

S.I. 1997/1678.