The NHS Direct (Establishment and Constitution) Order 2004
Citation, commencement, application and interpretation1.
(1)
This Order may be cited as the NHS Direct (Establishment and Constitution) Order 2004 and shall come into force on 1st April 2004.
(2)
This Order applies to England only.
(3)
In this Order—
“the Act” means the National Health Service Act 1977;
“the Authority” means the NHS Direct Special Health Authority established by this Order; and
“NHS Direct services” means services relating to the provision of health related information and advice to the public under the name NHS Direct before 1st April 2004.
Establishment of the Authority2.
There is hereby established a Special Health Authority which shall be known as NHS Direct.
Functions of the Authority3.
(1)
(a)
such functions in connection with the provision of health related information and advice; and
(b)
such other functions,
as the Secretary of State may direct.
Constitution of the Authority4.
The Authority shall consist of—
(a)
a chairman;
(b)
5 members who are not officers of the Authority; and
(c)
5 officers of the Authority including the persons who for the time being hold the office of Chief Executive, Director of Finance and Clinical Director of the Authority.
Remuneration of members5.
The Authority is hereby specified for the purposes of paragraph 9(7)(b) of Schedule 5 to the Act (definition of “relevant authority” for the purposes of paying remuneration to members of certain Special Health Authorities).
Public meetings6.
Transfer of rights and liabilities7.
All rights and liabilities of a National Health Service trust or Primary Care Trust listed in Schedule 1 relating to NHS Direct services are transferred to the Authority and are therefore enforceable by or, as the case may be, against it.
Transfer of property8.
All property of the National Health Service trusts and Primary Care Trusts listed in Schedule 1 identified as property transferring to the Authority in the document produced by the Department of Health and entitled “Schedule of property transferring from National Health Service trusts and Primary Care Trusts to NHS Direct on 1st April 2004” and dated 18th February 2004 is transferred to the Authority.
Transfer of officers9.
(1)
This paragraph applies to an officer of—
(a)
a National Health Service trust or Primary Care Trust listed in Schedule 1,
(b)
a National Health Service trust listed in Schedule 2, or
(c)
who on 31st March 2004 is wholly or mainly engaged in NHS Direct services and who was notified in a letter posted on or before 9th January 2004 that he was to be transferred to the Authority.
(2)
Any officer to whom paragraph (1) applies shall, on 1st April 2004, be transferred to the employment of the Authority.
(3)
The contract of employment of an officer transferred under paragraph (2)—
(a)
is not terminated by the transfer; and
(b)
has effect from the time of the transfer as if originally made between the officer and the Authority.
(4)
Without prejudice to paragraph (3)—
(a)
all the rights, powers, duties and liabilities of the body from which an officer is transferred, under or in connection with its contract of employment with an officer transferred under paragraph (2), shall by virtue of this paragraph be transferred to the Authority; and
(b)
anything done before the date of the transfer by or in relation to the body from which that officer is so transferred, in respect of the officer or his contract of employment, shall be deemed to have been done by or in relation to the Authority.
(5)
Paragraphs (2) to (4) do not transfer an officer’s contract of employment, or the rights, powers, duties and liabilities under or in connection with it, if that officer objects to the transfer to the Authority and informs the body from which he would be transferred of that objection by 31st March 2004.
(6)
Where an officer objects as mentioned in paragraph (5), his contract of employment with the body from which he would be transferred shall be terminated immediately before the date on which the transfer would occur, but he shall not be treated, for any purpose, as having been dismissed from that body.
(7)
This article is without prejudice to any right of an officer to terminate his contract of employment if a substantial change is made to his detriment in his working conditions; but no such right shall arise by reason only that, under this article, the identity of his employer changes unless the officer shows that, in all the circumstances, the change is a significant change and is to his detriment.
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health
SCHEDULE 1Schedule of National Health Service trusts and Primary Care Trusts
National Health Service trust or Primary Care Trust | Establishment Order |
|---|---|
Avon Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | |
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Ambulance and Paramedic Service National Health Service Trust | |
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health Partnership National Health Service Trust | |
Essex Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | |
Greater Manchester Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | |
Hampshire Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | |
Hillingdon Primary Care Trust | |
Kensington and Chelsea Primary Care Trust | |
Lancashire Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | |
Mayday Healthcare National Health Service Trust | |
Mid-Staffordshire General Hospitals National Health Service Trust | |
Newham Primary Care Trust | |
North East Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | |
Nottingham City Primary Care Trust | |
Sheffield Children’s National Health Service Trust | |
Southwark Primary Care Trust | |
Surrey Oaklands National Health Service Trust | |
Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | |
Two Shires Ambulance National Health Service Trust | |
West Midlands Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | |
West Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | |
West Country Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust |
SCHEDULE 2Schedule of National Health Service trusts
National Health Service trust | Establishment Order |
|---|---|
Bedford Hospital National Health Service Trust | |
Plymouth Hospitals National Health Service Trust |
This Order provides for the establishment and constitution of a Special Health Authority, to be known as NHS Direct (“the Authority”), to exercise functions in connection with the provision of health related information and advice and such other functions as the Secretary of State may direct it to perform. The functions of the Authority have previously been carried out by the Department of Health and 22 National Health Service trusts under the name of NHS Direct.
Article 2 of the Order establishes the Authority, the functions of which are described in article 3 and are to be specified more particularly in directions given by the Secretary of State. Provision is also made for the constitution of the Authority (article 4), for the remuneration of its members (article 5), for the admission of the public to meetings (article 6), for the transfer of rights and liabilities (article 7) and the transfer of property (article 8) and officers (article 9). A copy of the document referred to in article 8 is available from the Department of Health, Quarry House, Quarry Hill, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS2 7UE.