The National Health Service (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) and (Travel Expenses and Remission of Charges) Amendment Regulations 2005

Amendment of the Charges Regulations concerning out of hours supply of drugs and appliances

7.  After regulation 4 of the Charges Regulations insert—

“Out of hours supply of drugs and appliances by providers of out of hours services

4A.— (1) A provider of out of hours services who supplies drugs or appliances to a patient in the course of providing out of hours services shall, subject to paragraphs (3) and (7), make and recover from that patient—

(a) in respect of an item of elastic hosiery a charge of £6.50, that is to say a charge of £13.00 per pair;

(b) in respect of the supply of each appliance and of each quantity of a drug, a charge of £6.50.

(2) Where a charge is paid under paragraph (1), the person making the payment shall on doing so sign a declaration in writing on the supply form that the relevant charge has been paid.

(3) No charge shall be made and recovered under paragraph (1) where—

(a) there is exemption under regulation 7 and a declaration of entitlement to exemption is duly completed by or on behalf of the patient on the supply form;

(b) there is entitlement to remission of the charge under regulation 5 of the Travel Expenses and Remission of Charges Regulations and a declaration of entitlement to remission is duly completed by or on behalf of the patient on the supply form; or

(c) the drugs or appliances are supplied in respect of two or more persons in a school or institution in which at least 20 persons are normally resident provided that the name of the school or institution is inserted on the supply form,

and where, in the cases described in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b), such evidence of entitlement to exemption or remission is provided as the provider of out of hours services may reasonably require.

(4) A provider of out of hours services shall be under no obligation to supply drugs or appliances in the course of out of hours services for which a charge is required to be made and recovered by paragraph (1) unless he is first paid the amount of that charge by the patient.

(5) A provider of out of hours services who makes and recovers a charge under paragraph (1) shall, if so required by the patient, give him a receipt for the amount received on the form provided for the purpose, which form shall contain forms of declaration in support of an application for repayment and information as to whom an application for repayment should be made.

(6) Any sum which would otherwise be payable by a Primary Care Trust to a provider of out of hours services in respect of the provision by him of primary medical services shall be reduced by the amount of charges which are required to be made and recovered under paragraph (1).

(7) Nothing in this regulation shall authorise the payment of a charge where the drug or appliance supplied either—

(a) is needed for immediate treatment and no order for the drug or appliance is made on a supply form; or

(b) is administered or applied to the patient by the provider of out of hours services personally.

(8) In this regulation, “supply form” means a form provided by a Primary Care Trust and completed by or on behalf of a provider of out of hours services for the purpose of recording the provision of drugs or appliances to a patient during the out of hours period.”.