Interpretation2.

(1)

In these Regulations–

“the Act” means the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978;

“accepted disablement” means physical or mental injury or disease which is accepted by the Scottish Ministers as attributable to or aggravated by service in the armed forces of the Crown or such other service as they may determine;

“appliance” means an appliance, other than a contraceptive appliance, which is a listed appliance within the meaning of section 27(1) of the Act;

“Board” means a Health Board constituted under section 2 of the Act;

“chemist” includes any person, other than a doctor, providing pharmaceutical services;

“dentist” means a registered dental practitioner;

“doctor” means a registered medical practitioner;

“drugs” includes medicines but does not include contraceptive substances;

“elastic hosiery” means anklet, legging, knee-cap, below-knee or thigh stocking;

“exemption” means any remission granted under or by virtue of these Regulations;

“exemption certificate” means a certificate issued pursuant to these Regulations authorising a person to claim exemption from charges payable under these Regulations;

“the General Medical Services Regulations” means the National Health Service (General Medical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 19952;

“medical list” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 4(1) of the General Medical Services Regulations;

“nurse prescriber” means a nurse or health visitor of a description specified in paragraph (2);

“out-patient” means a person receiving treatment under the Act otherwise than under Part II of the Act and who is not for the purpose of receiving that treatment resident in a hospital;

“patient” means–

(a)

any person for whose treatment a doctor is responsible under his terms of service or in connection with a pilot scheme; or

(b)

any person who applies to a chemist for the provision of pharmaceutical services, and includes for the purposes of these Regulations a person acting on behalf of such a person;

“pharmaceutical services” means services provided under section 27 of the Act;

“pilot scheme” shall be construed in accordance with section 1(1) of the National Health Service (Primary Care) Act 19973;

“prescription form” means a form on which the provision of pharmaceutical services may be ordered by a Board or an NHS trust or by a doctor or dentist pursuant to the provisions of their terms of service or a dentist performing personal dental services in accordance with a pilot scheme under Part I of the National Health Service (Primary Care) Act 1997, or by a nurse prescriber and which contains on its reverse side a form of declaration of entitlement to exemption;

“terms of service” has the meaning respectively in respect of a doctor, a chemist or a dentist assigned to it in the General Medical Services Regulations, the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 19954 or the National Health Service (General Dental Services) (Scotland) Regulations 19965;
“the Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges Regulations” means the National Health Service (Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 19886;

“treatment” includes examination and diagnosis.

(2)

The specified description of a nurse or health visitor mentioned in the definition of “nurse prescriber” in paragraph (1) is–

(a)

a person who is registered in Part 1 or 12 of the register maintained under the Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act 19977 (referred to below in this paragraph as “the professional register”), has a district nursing qualification additionally recorded in the professional register maintained under rule 11 of the Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Rules 19838, and is, at the time of ordering the listed drug or medicine or listed appliance–

(i)

employed as a district nurse by a Board or an NHS trust; or

(ii)

employed as a nurse by a doctor whose name is included in a medical list or who, at that time, is assisting in the performance of personal medical services under a pilot scheme; or

(b)

a person who is registered in Part 11 of the professional register as a health visitor and is, at the time of ordering the listed drug or medicine or listed appliance–

(i)

employed as a health visitor by a Board or NHS trust; or

(ii)

employed as a health visitor by a doctor whose name is included in a medical list or who, at that time, is assisting in the performance of personal medical services under a pilot scheme,

against whose name (in each case) is recorded in the professional register an annotation signifying that that person is qualified to order drugs, medicines and appliances for patients.

(3)

For the purpose of these Regulations–

(a)

the supply of quantities of the same drug in more than one container against an order on one prescription form shall be deemed to be the supply of only one quantity of a drug; and

(b)

the supply against an order on one prescription form of more than one appliance of the same type or the supply against an order on one prescription form of two or more component parts of the same appliance shall be deemed to be the supply of only one appliance, however any piece of elastic hosiery shall be deemed to be a separate appliance.

(4)

Unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation or Schedule is a reference to the regulation in, or as the case may be, the Schedule to these Regulations which bears that number, and any reference in a regulation to a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph bearing that number in that regulation.