Citation, commencement, interpretation and extent
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 and shall come into force on 1st June 2002.
(2) In these Regulations—
“the Act” means the Health and Social Care Act 2001,
“public authority” has the same meaning as in section 3(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000(1);
“public health laboratory service” means the microbiological service provided by the Public Health Laboratory Service Board under section 5(2)(c) and (4) of the National Health Service Act 1977(2);
“research ethics committee” means a local research ethics committee established or recognised by a health authority within its area or a multi-centre research ethics committee which is recognised by Secretary of State in respect of research carried out within five or more health authority areas or any other research ethics committee recognised by the Secretary of State.
(3) Any notice given under these Regulations shall be—
(a)in writing; or
(b)transmitted by electronic means in a legible form which is capable of being used for subsequent reference.
(4) Any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation is a reference to the regulation which bears that number in these Regulations and any reference to a numbered paragraph in a regulation is a reference to the paragraph which bears that number in that regulation.
(5) These Regulations extend to England and Wales only.
1977 c. 49; subsections (2)(c) and (4) of section 5 were amended by the Public Health Laboratory Service Act 1979 (c. 23), section 1.