Section 7 – Ancillary provision
56.This section enables the Scottish Ministers by order to make incidental and other ancillary provision for the purposes of the Act or in consequence of it. The power can, for instance, be used to make an express saving provision for existing pilot schemes under the 1997 Act for personal medical services, and to make appropriate provision to secure that such schemes continue to work. (See the entry above for section 3 of the Act.) The power also enables appropriate provision to be made to ensure that existing GP practices providing general medical services under section 19 arrangements have an automatic right to transfer to a new general medical services contract. The power can also be used to take account of any changes to the Act’s references to Northern Ireland that may be required as a consequence of changes to the law in Northern Ireland which correspond to the changes set out in the Act.