These Regulations consolidate, with amendments, those provisions of the National Health Service (General Medical and Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 1974 (“the 1974 Regulations”) which relate to general medical services. The provisions of the 1974 Regulations which relate to pharmaceutical services are consolidated, with amendments, in the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 1992. The 1974 Regulations and all subsequent amendments are revoked by regulation 26 and Schedule 4 to the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 1992. These Regulations therefore regulate the terms on which general medical services are provided under the National Health Service Act 1977.
The principal changes effected by these Regulations are the following.
Regulation 5 makes provision for inclusion in a medical list or to succeed to a vacancy. Where the report which a Family Health Services Authority (“FHSA”) has to send to the Medical Practices Committee does not support a doctor’s application, the Medical Practices Committee is required to show that part of the report to the doctor concerned. Where the Medical Practices Committee refuses an application which the FHSA did support, regulation 14 requires it to send to the doctor that part of the report which did support the application. Regulation 5 and the various sections of Part III of Schedule 3 make provision for the content of reports from FHSAs to the Medical Practices Committee, first, in respect of different kinds of application and secondly, where an application is for inclusion in the medical list of more than one FHSA.
The Regulations enable a doctor to appeal against a decision of an FHSA concerning the number of patients on his list (regulation 24). Provision is included to ensure that doctors are given notice of hearings and of appeals relating to their admission onto the child health surveillance list, the obstetric list and the minor surgery list and that they are given reasons for decisions in such cases.
The Regulations contain new provisions relating to the inclusion of a doctor in an obstetric list and the provision of maternity medical services. The procedure for admission to an obstetric list, which reflects that applicable to admission to a child health surveillance list and a minor surgery list, is set out in regulation 30. The criteria to be considered by an FHSA in deciding whether to admit a doctor to such an obstetric list, which relate to that doctor’s obstetric qualifications and experience, are contained in Part I of Schedule 5. Arrangements for maternity medical services and the obligations of a doctor who has undertaken to provide such services are contained in regulation 31 and Part II of Schedule 5, respectively. Maternity medical services are defined to comprise four component parts and a doctor who undertakes to provide maternity medical services may undertake to do so in respect of any or all of those parts.
The provisions in the doctors' terms of service (Schedule 2) concerning arrangements made by a doctor for the provision of general medical services by a deputy are amended to clarify the extent of a doctor’s obligation to give treatment personally.
These Regulations also make a number of amendments to the 1974 Regulations which are minor or consequential drafting amendments or procedural in nature.